Six Feet
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: What happens when the world you believe to have existed doesn't even exist at all? Several people are in for a very rude awakening. Ayame x OC, Miroku x Sango, Kouga x Kagome, Sesshomaru x Kikyou, Inuyasha x ?
1. Chapter 1

1If there was anything that was constant in life, it was the changing of the seasons. Winter blanketed the world in a fine, white powder of snow. It nipped at people's noses and chilled their feet, causing them to huddle closer to their home fires. Young children went out to play, tossing snow balls at each other. Then winter made way for spring. Snow melted away, sending precious water into the ground so the first seedlings of the grass and the crops wouldn't die from thirst right away. Warm rains also came, washing away the remaining snows and bringing out the friskiness in even the oldest of people. The flowers blossomed, and trysts were either made or renewed. Spring made way for summer and for the planting of more crops. Courtships either continued or were broken in favour of someone else. Such was the way of the world.

'It's a beautiful day,' Miroku sighed as he sat in front of Kaede's hut and watched as yet another pretty young girl was given flowers by another would-be suitor. She immediately accepted and the two dashed off, laughing as they went, another potential mother gone. He let out another sigh, his head slightly lowered.

The houshi had a very interesting habit of asking nearly every pretty girl to bear his children. With each day that passed, he felt the kazaana gnawing slowly away at his hand . . . and his life. Before too much longer, he'd really have to start looking in earnest for someone to bed so he'd have his heir. Not that he really wanted just _any_ girl to bear his child. Miroku already had someone in mind but for some reason, his advances and overtures, were rejected by her. Every time he tried to let her know or to get her attention, he ended up with a bruise that covered half of his face, though lately she hadn't been hitting him nearly as hard.

'It's worth it every time,' he chuckled to himself. Then Miroku raised his head to the sky and let out a third sigh.

"Oi, knock that off, Miroku!" came the harsh and irritated bark from inside the hut. "She'll be back before too much longer. You can go back to groping her ass then!"

The houshi shook his head, still smiling. While he admired Inuyasha's strength and courage, there were times the hanyou could be absolutely clueless. Something could be going on right in front of his nose and, chances were, he'd miss it. It had taken a blunt and very direct question from the silver-haired boy for him to finally get it about the crush Miroku had on Sango. Immediately upon thinking that, the monk became somber and thoughtful. There _was_ something going on that Inuyasha didn't know about, something that would ultimately tear the hanyou apart. Miroku knew it. He cast a saddened glance to the door of the hut.

'I don't like this,' he told himself. 'I really don't. She shouldn't be keeping something like this a secret from him. He's going to be devastated when he finds out.'

The "secret" that he was thinking of was something that Kagome had told him, Sango, Shippou, and Kirara several months before, about a decision she had come to. Before she told them what it was, she had sworn them to secrecy. They weren't allowed to tell Inuyasha at all. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of the hut, going over the situation in his head once more.

Kagome had been unusually happy that day, despite the run-in they'd had with Kouga. As usual, Kouga and Inuyasha had gotten into one of their usual fights, bickering over Kagome. At least, they had started to. Kagome had instantly "sat" the hanyou and told him to leave the wolf youkai alone. It had resulted in a three-way argument between Kagome, Inuyasha, and Kouga, and ended with another "sitting." Angry, Inuyasha had stormed off to sulk. Everyone, with baited breath, had watched him leave until Kouga had stated he couldn't detect the hanyou anymore. Then Kagome had relaxed and started smiling once more. When Sango had asked what she was so happy about, Kagome's smile had only gotten wider . . . and warmer.

"It's a secret," she had giggled.

"A secret?"

"Hai," Kagome had nodded. "And only one I'll tell you if you promise to keep it."

Hesitantly, he, Sango, and Shippou had given their word. At least, he had hesitated. There was something about the entire situation that had seemed off to him. Then, when Kagome had told them that she had accepted Kouga's proposal to be his mate, he had known why. Even Kouga had seemed uncomfortable with keeping the relationship a secret from Inuyasha. But, because Kagome had insisted, they'd agreed.

"He won't understand," Kagome had murmured. "He never does."

"I don't think you're giving him enough credit," he had stated gently. "Inuyasha needs to know this."

"I can't tell him . . . it would tear him apart!"

'So would keeping it a secret,' he moaned to himself. It had been the same argument since she'd told them. Every time it was brought up, she'd shake her head and say it was too soon. She wasn't ready to tell him. She didn't want to hurt him . . . and she didn't want him to kill Kouga.

Inuyasha stormed out of the hut at that moment, sniffing the air. He snorted.

"About time," he grumbled. "What took them so long?"

"I don't know," Miroku shrugged, feeling slightly ill to his stomach. He knew. And he hated himself for the lie.

'Kagome, you had better tell him the truth and soon. For friendship's sake.'

888888888

Kagome drew a deep breath then let it out, giggling as she did so. Her excursion with Sango to the exterminator village had gone off better than she had hoped for. Inuyasha had stayed with Miroku and Kaede in Edo, giving her and Kouga a few days together without interruption.

'Thank goodness there was a hot spring nearby,' she thought as Kirara made her descent into the village. 'I don't know what I'd do if Inuyasha caught a hint of Kouga's scent on me.'

Truth be told, she hated herself for keeping her relationship with Kouga a secret from Inuyasha. But she also didn't want to hurt the hanyou. They'd gone through so much together that she didn't want to lose their friendship. For him to hear that she'd chosen Kouga . . .

'It'd kill him,' she thought. 'Or he'll kill Kouga. One or the other. And I don't want to lose either of them.'

She hadn't really meant to agree to Kouga's proposal. He'd been flirting with her for some time and she'd always turned him down. Kagome still had feelings for Inuyasha, after all. Then something her friends had said to her one day struck a nerve. She'd been telling them about a fight that had occurred between the hanyou and the wolf youkai (without revealing who and what they were to the girls) and how she'd broken it up. Kouga had taken off and Inuyasha had stormed away. She'd revealed more than she had intended to, her anger about the whole situation finally getting the better of her.

'I remember . . . I saw one of Kikyou's soul collectors go by . . . heading in the same direction as Inuyasha . . . that's when it hit me again . . . he'd never really see me for who I am . . . I'll always be another Kikyou to him . . . Eri and Yuka were right when they said I wasn't giving Kouga a chance . . . I'm glad I did . . . At least he doesn't see some dead girlfriend when he looks at me.'

After that trip to her own time, she had managed to sneak away from their group one night, while Inuyasha was in his human form, she'd detected the sacred jewel shards and had seen the whirlwind of air before anyone else had. Without saying a word to them, she snuck off and greeted Kouga before he got too close. It was then she had informed him of her decision to give him a chance. Why she had wanted to keep a secret from Inuyasha, she hadn't been able to say for certain. Just that she didn't want to hurt him and she'd been grateful when Miroku, Sango, and Shippou had agreed. The fact that she hadn't been discovered by Inuyasha yet truly amazed her.

'I need to tell him,' she thought as the village came into view. 'Before he finds out from someone else.'

As soon as they had landed, Inuyasha and Miroku came up to them. Her eyes met with golden-amber, and, for a moment, her resolve to keep her secret wavered. He was happy to see her. It may not have not shown on his face but it was there. In his eyes.

'I have to tell him . . . No,' she shook her head. 'I can't. To tell him now would be to tear him apart.'

"It's about time you two got back," Inuyasha groused. "What took you so long?"

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "Just took our time to relax. That's all."

"And you couldn't here?"

"Inuyasha, you know why I went with Sango to her village," Kagome sighed. "She asked me to go with her. . ."

"Still didn't mean you had to take so long," he huffed, folding his arms.

'Okay, now he's just being stubborn,' she thought, irritation starting to course through her. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, but we stayed for as long as we needed to. She had to repair her weapon and pay her respects. You know that," Kagome stated.

"Keh, whatever. Let's go."

"Go?" Sango echoed. "Go where? We just got back!"

"To hunt the jewel shards, of course! Where else?" Inuyasha retorted.

"We just got back! Just as Sango said," Kagome protested, placing her hands on her hips. "We're not going anywhere. Not just yet."

"Kagome's right, Inuyasha," Miroku interjected. "They did _just_ arrive back. At least give Kirara a chance to rest from her flight."

The hanyou growled a little then snorted once more.

"Fine," he agreed, "but only because Kirara needs the rest."

"How considerate of you," she murmured. Inuyasha ignored her as he scooped the two-tail up and carried her into Kaede's home. Once he was out of sight, she exhaled softly. Telling him the truth now definitely wasn't going to be easy.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

888888888

Sango cast a glance at Kagome, both girls making their way to a nearby hot spring. It had been a few days since they'd set out from Edo, continuing their search for Naraku and the Shikon no Tama. Though the younger girl was still happy about her new relationship with the wolf tribe leader, she'd been somewhat quiet since they'd left. It had the taijiya slightly worried.

"Is everything all right, Kagome?"

"Huh?" Kagome blinked then shook her head, chuckling a little. "Yeah. Everything's fine. Just been thinking."

"May I ask about what?"

"About what I'm going to do about Inuyasha," she sighed. "Every time I think it's time to tell him, I look into his eyes and I see how happy he is to be around me . . . and I can't bear to break his heart like that."

"You're not going to be telling him any time soon then, are you?"

"No," Kagome shook her head. "I can't. It'd hurt him too much . . . and I don't want to be the cause of that."

Sango let out a soft sigh. She understood how Kagome felt. She really did. But the deception was starting to put a strain on their group. Miroku meditated a little more than usual, his groping practically becoming non-existent. She was having a harder time looking in Inuyasha's eyes. They hardly spoke to each other. Though Inuyasha still remained rather oblivious to the fact, it wouldn't be long before he wised up and started demanding to know what was going on.

'But as long as Kagome doesn't tell him anything, I can't tell him anything,' the taijiya sighed. 'Kami, he's going to be in for a very rude awakening once everything's said and done.'

Sango turned her eyes away as they continued to the hot spring. For once, she wished she hadn't survived her brother's scythe.

888888888

Cool, golden-amber eyes watched as the two girls made their way through the forest. He hadn't caught the entire conversation, but he'd heard enough to know. The young miko was keeping a secret from someone. Most likely his little brother. What kind of a secret, he wasn't sure, but it was a secret nonetheless. And it guaranteed to cause Inuyasha pain.

Sesshomaru stood there, his form never moving, never wavering. The fact that he wanted to kill his brother had not been lost on anyone. He'd despised the half-breed for as long as he could remember, hating the fact that their father had favoured Inuyasha over him, having died for the half-breed and his ningen mother. But his hatred had begun to be overshadowed by his growing respect and admiration for his younger brother. The odds were never in Inuyasha's favour yet the hanyou never gave up, never let anything get in his way, especially when the miko was around. Oh, yes, he knew that Inuyasha's strength came from his desire to protect the young girl. It had been something he'd always used to his advantage, if he could.

Now his ability to fight his brother teetered on the brink of disaster. In the air was the scent of a wolf he had encountered once before. He observed as the miko went to greet him . . . as his brother's scent came towards him. The truth, he deemed, was about to reveal itself and things were going to get ugly. Very ugly.

For once in his life, he would wish he hadn't been right.


	2. Chapter 2

Kouga hummed to himself as he ran, the reason for his happiness straight ahead of him. A smile spread across his face and he felt like leaping about for joy.

'I can't believe Kagome actually agreed to be my mate,' he thought, slowing down some. 'I thought for sure she'd have continued to reject me for mutt-face.'

That was how it had always been. He'd seek her out or catch her scent on the wind. Of course, Inuyasha would always be with her, and it annoyed Kouga. All he really wanted to do was _see_ Kagome and reaffirm his claim on her. He'd bait the half-breed after she had very kindly rebuffed him, get Inuyasha riled up then the fight would be over with a "sit" from the young girl. When it was over, he'd declare his love for her and take off once more. He had a clan to avenge, after all, and he couldn't spend all day baiting the arrogant half-demon.

Then one day, about a week after he'd gotten into yet _another_ baiting match with Inuyasha, Kagome had approached him _without_ her traveling companions. To see her by herself had surprised him, to say the least, and had angered him. He'd been ready to go beat the living shit out of Inuyasha for letting her walk around unguarded. Fortunately for him, Kagome talked him out of it, explaining that no one knew that she was even there. Once he'd calmed down some, Kagome told him why she was there . . . and that she needed to keep it from Inuyasha. Because it would hurt him and she didn't want to do that to him.

Kouga scowled a little as he thought about the fact that his relationship with Kagome had been kept secret now for many months. He didn't like the thought but not because it would ultimately hurt Inuyasha. The wolf could have cared less about how it would affect the half-demon. He wanted the world to know that Kagome was his. Kouga wanted to rub it in Inuyasha's face that, because he was only half youkai, he wasn't the one for Kagome and her decision had proven it. However, he couldn't deny Kagome her wish. She wanted it to be kept from the hanyou until she was ready to tell him. Not before then.

'Anything for her,' he smiled as she came into view. The moment she saw him, she smiled back and waved.

"Kouga!"

The young girl glanced at the taijiya, who only nodded, then she ran towards him, her arms outstretched. He caught her in a warm and big hug, unaware that they were being watched and that his rendezvous with her would be short-lived.

88888888

Inuyasha kept his face steeled in determination as he ran towards his brother's scent. Why the older youkai had decided to start nosing around at that moment, he didn't know. Nor did he care. He just wanted his brother gone and away from his pack.

'If he's here to gloat,' he glowered darkly, 'I swear I'll rip out his fucking throat.'

He wove his way through the trees, slowing down as Sesshomaru's scent grew stronger. With a tiny sigh of relief, he noted that none of Sesshomaru's companions were with him. It was just the youkai lord.

'Thank Kami for that,' Inuyasha thought to himself as he came to a stop. 'I don't think I could face _her_ again . . . not after what she'd told me . . .'

Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha strode towards his brother, his expression grim. He'd also detected Kagome and Sango close by as well but Sesshomaru wasn't that close to them. They were safe . . . for the moment. Another thing he could be grateful for. The older youkai slowly turned to face him, his expression stoic as always.

"Oi, Sesshomaru! What do you . . ."

Inuyasha paused as yet a fourth scent came to him, carried on a light breeze. It was a scent he knew all too well, and it was heading directly for Kagome and Sango.

"Damn him," Inuyasha growled, his irritation at his brother forgotten. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know this wolf?" came the quiet inquiry.

"Kouga," he breathed, his frame going rigid. "He keeps sniffing around Kagome, saying that she's his . . . and it pisses me off. She _isn't_ his woman. She's said as much."

"I see," Sesshomaru murmured. "Then why did she greet him the way she did?"

"What?!"

"She's greeted him . . . the way a lover would."

Inuyasha ran to his brother's side . . . just in time to see Kouga kiss Kagome . . . as Sango watched. Rage filled his vision at the sight.

'How dare he . . .'

Sesshomaru and his words were forgotten. All that mattered to him was he get Kagome, _his_ Kagome, away from Kouga and shred the wolf into as many pieces as possible. He didn't care if it upset Kagome anymore. Kouga, in his opinion, had gone too far this time.

'I'll make him pay this time,' Inuyasha swore to himself. 'I swear I will. For every insult he's ever given me . . . and for not leaving Kagome alone. That wolf is mine.'

888888888

"Kikyou-sama?"

"Yes, Rin?" The doe-eyed woman glanced up from the fire that she'd been tending to. Across from her stood a young girl wearing a bright orange kimono, a little girl she'd started to become very fond of. Concern had made itself known on the child's face.

"When will Sesshomaru be back?" she inquired. The innocent question warmed the miko's heart and she smiled.

"He'll be back as soon as he can," Kikyou told her. "Did you catch any fish for us to eat?"

"Yes, Kikyou-sama!" Rin nodded, holding up a very hearty catch.

"That's very good," Kikyou smiled, patting the girl on the head. "Now let's fix us something to eat while we wait for Sesshomaru to come back."

"Okay."

As they set about cleaning the fish and preparing it for their meal, Kikyou glanced at the girl assisting her. She knew that if it hadn't been for Rin, she'd still be wandering aimlessly, collecting the souls of recently deceased young girls. Sesshomaru had taken her with him, stating that Rin needed a female's influence. The young girl was due for her first heat, he had said. There wasn't any way he could instruct her on how to cope with the changes that her young body was going to go through. She'd also teach the young girl her letters and herblore, something that their group desperately needed. In exchange for her services, he'd bring her back to life. Kikyou had agreed. Before he had given her flesh and made her whole once more, she'd gone to see Inuyasha.

'He was hurt to hear that I would be traveling with his older brother,' she thought. 'But he was also happy . . . I relieved him of his promise . . . that way he could be with my reincarnation with no guilt or regret. He deserves that much.'

While their dinner cooked, Rin started to hum her song. Kikyou found herself smiling once more, her own wishes coinciding with the child's.

'Hurry back, Sesshomaru. Hurry back.'

888888888

Kagome glared angrily at the half-demon who now lay face-first on the ground. Her entire form shook with the anger that had enveloped her. He'd followed her . . . and Miroku had let him.

'He told,' was the thought that ran through her mind. 'He told Inuyasha after he promised me that he wouldn't.'

She waited for the charm to wear off and for Inuyasha to rise to his feet. Already, his fangs were bared and he was growling at Kouga, who had adopted a defensive stance. The young miko glanced at the taijiya. She needed to calm down . . . before she hurt someone. Namely Inuyasha.

"Sango, I'll be back," she stated coolly. Without another word, she marched towards Kouga. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and started to leave.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, wench?" Inuyasha spat out. Kouga stiffened but Kagome gave him a reassuring pat. Then she whirled around to face the puppy-eared male, her anger still apparent.

"_I_ am going with Kouga, whether you like it or not," Kagome declared.

"No, you're not," he barked out. "You're not going _anywhere_ with that mangy wolf!"

"Oi, she isn't your woman anymore, Inuyasha!" Kouga snarled. "She's mine! So back off!"

Inuyasha started to say more but Kagome cut him off, her anger getting the better of her.

"He's right, Inuyasha. I'm _not_ your woman anymore and I never will be. You have Kikyou, remember? You chose her over me, remember? You'd rather follow her to hell than stay here with me! That was _your_ choice. Well, I've made my choice and it's Kouga so just learn to deal with it."

Having said that, she stalked off, dragging Kouga with her.

888888888

Miroku winced at Kagome's tirade. He had always known that Inuyasha would eventually find out about her relationship with Kouga, but he had always envisioned the discussion to be a group thing, each one there to let the half-demon know where he had gone wrong. Not like this. Not in anger. Not where Kouga could gloat over him.

He stepped onto the road, ignoring the angry glare that Sango gave him. His eyes had focused on Inuyasha, the half-demon having become deathly still.

"Inuyasha?"

Miroku took a tentative step closer to the older boy, waiting for Inuyasha to say something, anything. When he didn't get a reply, he took another step.

"Inuyasha? Are you all right?"

"She . . . chose him . . . over me . . . I thought . . . she . . ."

The voice that floated back to him didn't sound like the brash and proud hanyou Miroku had come to know. It sounded like that of a child who had gotten lost and couldn't find anything familiar to guide him home. The hanyou's shoulders started to sag, his eyes still focused in the direction Kouga and Kagome had left in. Without warning, he dropped to his knees. Alarmed, Miroku ran to his side, Sango right behind him. The moment they reached him, golden eyes raised to meet them. Miroku felt sick to his stomach at the pain he saw there.

"She . . . said . . . she said she'd always be by my side . . . no matter what I decided . . . she . . ."

"She made a decision, Inuyasha," Sango murmured gently. "We just have to accept it. That's all."

"Kagome . . . she . . ." His eyes hardened as he gazed at them. "You knew . . . did you? You knew this whole time and you never said a word . . ."

"We gave her our word that we wouldn't say anything," Miroku began, reaching for the half-demon. Inuyasha automatically skittered away from him.

"You knew . . . and you never told me . . ."

"Inuyasha . . ." Sango tried. "Please, just listen . . ."

'He isn't going to listen,' Miroku sighed, noting the way Inuyasha's body shook and trembled. 'He's too upset . . . probably think we've betrayed him . . . in a way, he's right. We did.'

"No," he shook his head. "I'm not listening . . . I'm done listening . . . I can't . . . I . . . I was going to tell her . . . I tried to tell her . . ."

"Tell her what, Inuyasha?" Sango demanded. "That you were leaving for hell with Kikyou sooner than you'd intended?"

Miroku winced at the harshness in Sango's tone. He couldn't blame her for it, though. She and Kagome had become very close since they'd started traveling together. It was only natural that the taijiya felt protective of the miko. He half-expected Inuyasha to show some semblance of his former self and snap at them, especially at Sango. It would have been better than what happened next.

Instead of snapping at them, Inuyasha gazed at them, intensified pain mirroring in his eyes. A single tear stole down his cheek as he whispered, "Kikyou released me from my promise . . . she chose to be with Sesshomaru."


	3. Chapter 3

Sesshomaru watched impassively as the young miko used her little charm on his brother and stormed away with the wolf, her anger radiating from her in waves. He sniffed the air lightly then shook his head in disgust. The air faintly stunk of betrayal. Of course, he had also heard every word that had been spoken, had seen every look that had been given . . . only Inuyasha had been clueless about the situation.

'Typical Inuyasha,' Sesshomaru thought, turning away from the heart-breaking scene. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for his brother. No one deserved to be betrayed like that, not even someone as pathetic as the hanyou. Inuyasha had been through enough in his life and it had looked like he was getting close to claiming the girl as his mate. Then Sesshomaru shook his head, dismissing the thoughts and his momentary feelings of remorse. Such feelings were for fools. His brother deserved the pain he was now going through, especially for being so optimistic that he'd be accepted by a group of humans. Ningens were fickle creatures, untrustworthy. Sure, he had Kikyou and Rin traveling with him, but they were different. Rin was but a mere child, even by youkai standards, and was learning about loyalty and trust through him and Jaken. And Kikyou . . . well, he'd already made it known what would happen to her if she betrayed him. He wasn't the fool his brother was. He would kill those who dared to cross him.

'He should have known the girl would eventually betray him. He should have known . . .'

Sesshomaru continued on his way, heading back to where his traveling companions had set up camp. Rin would be worried about him. She always worried about him and he hated to see her do anything but smile.

888888888

A young girl stood on the ledge, overlooking the valley below her. Her long red hair had been pulled into two tails, one on each side of her head, and a single flower rested in her scarlet mane. Two white wolves sat on either side of her. Behind her stood a tall male with icy blue eyes and a silvery-white mane. The rest of his features had become obscured by the dark robes he had opted to wear.

"Are . . . are you sure about this?" she whispered.

"Hai," came the murmured response. "I'm sure. I've been watching them for many months now. If they have not become official mates by now, they soon will be. His promise to you has been broken."

"And what about her love for the other? For Inuyasha?" she whirled around to face the man behind her. "Tell me that, Hiroshi! What happened? I thought she loved him! Not Kouga!"

"As did Inuyasha, Ayame. Even as we speak, Inuyasha still remains unaware of the changes that have been occurring around him, though that, too, is about to change."

"It's about to change?" the wolf demoness echoed. "How do you know this? You're only a half-breed."

"I may be only a half-breed," he sneered, stepping closer to her, "but I'm also not blind to my surroundings or to those who are similar to me. I can _feel_ it, Ayame. It's what I get for watching over my nephew since his birth."

As he spoke, his form seemed to have grown taller, more formidable than before. His blue eyes flashed angrily, reminding Ayame of stormy seas. Then he let out a heavy sigh and his imposing figure disappeared. Ayame let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding.

"But Inuyasha isn't the reason why I'm here, on this night. He will have to deal with his heartache on his own. There is nothing I can do for him. As much as I would like to, I've given my word to never interfere."

"Then why are you here, Hiroshi?" she murmured, stepping closer to him. "If it isn't because of Inuyasha then why? What would bring you to me?"

Sky blue eyes met hers, a sadness like none she had ever seen reflecting in those shimmering pools. They held something else, too, something she couldn't quite identify.

"You," he whispered. "I came here because of you."

888888888

Naraku watched through Kanna's mirror as the scene unraveled then licked his lips at the delicious tastes of despair and betrayal. Ever since it began, Naraku had known about the young miko's relationship with the wolf. However, he had decided not to say anything to Inuyasha just yet. The timing, he had felt, wasn't right. Things had been at the forgivable or explainable stage, and it would have only unified the strange group of companions against him. He couldn't risk that.

But this . . . this was far too delicious. There was no way that he couldn't act upon this. The group was divided. Perhaps even irreparably.

'Can't take that chance, though,' he thought, getting to his feet. 'I need to act now. While the lines are still divided.'

As he prepared to leave the castle, Naraku couldn't help but smirk. It had finally happened. The ever-so-mighty Inuyasha had finally fallen and in the worst way possible. Brought down yet again by the woman that he loved. The irony of the whole situation was simply . . . beautiful. He glanced at the darkening Shikon no Tama then began to laugh, the sound echoing throughout the entire castle.

888888888

'I can't believe this! I absolutely can't believe this! He followed me! He actually _followed_ me!'

Kagome paced back and forth, her entire form shaking with the anger and rage that she felt. She hadn't expected Inuyasha to follow her and Sango to the hot springs – that in itself looked bad enough – but the fact that he had managed to catch her with Kouga . . . it was still too much.

"Calm down, Kagome," Kouga murmured, stopping her in her tracks. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close. "He had to find out sooner or later."

"That still doesn't change the fact that he followed me to the hot spring!" she spat. Then Kagome took a deep breath and leaned against him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I just wasn't expecting a confrontation like that."

"No one was," he soothed, nuzzling her hair. "But there's no sense in getting worked up over it. What's done is done."

"Yeah," she sighed. They stood that way for several moments before she finally pulled away from him. "Come on. I need to talk to Inuyasha . . . let him know how long this has been going on . . . then give Miroku a piece of my mind for breaking his promise to me."

"Sure thing," the wolf nodded, wrapping an arm around her as they began to head back to her campsite. "But I don't think the monk did anything. I thought I caught Sesshomaru's scent close by."

"What?" Kagome felt the blood draining from her face at those words.

"I thought I detected Sesshomaru close by . . . he _is_ Inuyasha's brother, right?"

"Yes," she moaned. "And if you could detect Sesshomaru, so could Inuyasha. Kami, this isn't good. I need to get back to camp. Now."

"Then hop on," Kouga grinned. "We'll be back before you know it."

Kagome smiled in return as she climbed onto the wolf's back, but the warmth didn't reach her heart. All she could think about was getting back to her friends and hopefully salvage whatever friendship she had left in Inuyasha.

'Kami, what have I done?'

888888888

His chest hurt. It hurt a lot. He felt as if someone had sat upon his chest and was slowly smothering him to death. And the only thing he could think of to do was escape. Escape from the pain, escape from the burning anger he had seen in those eyes, in _her_ eyes . . . escape from the betrayal that had taken place around him.

The wind whipped around him, whistling in his ears. Branches reached for him, slapping him in the face and cutting him . . . but he didn't care. Not anymore. He ran, with no direction in mind. He ran until he could no longer run anymore. With his chest heaving, he fell to the ground, a restless slumber overtaking him . . .


	4. Chapter 4

Naraku crept closer to the area where Inuyasha lay. Already, he could taste the hanyou's feelings of betrayal and despair. They were absolutely delicious and the sound of Inuyasha's breathing, that slightly strangled choke that fought back the sob, the shallowness of each breath . . . music to his ears. It was intoxicating, to say the least. Naraku had to have more of it. He closed his eyes and allowed his feet to guide him to his target . . .

888888888

"You came here . . . because of me?" Ayame croaked out, tears spilling down her cheeks. Hiroshi nodded, his expression saddened. How he wished he could kiss those tears away!

"Hai . . . I came here, at the risk of everything else, to come here . . . for you, Ayame," he murmured.

"Why me?" she demanded softly.

"Because I've been watching you, along with my nephew," Hiroshi stated gently. "I may not have been able to help him because of my promise to his father but I've been able to watch him. You caught my eye, Ayame. You have a strong spirit. I admire that about you. You've bewitched me somehow . . . and I rather like it."

Tentatively, Hiroshi approached her. He wanted to hold his arms out to her but he refrained. He had just given her the worst news possible about the one that she had loved for a great number of years. To hold his arms out to her, he felt, would be to invite disaster and that was the last thing he wanted.

"How do I know you're being sincere?" Ayame whispered. "I've heard words like that before. I was even promised to be mated with."

"I know you were," Hiroshi soothed. "And I have no way to prove my sincerity other than to be here for you . . . if you so choose."

"And if I ask you to promise to be my mate? What would you do then?"

"Live up to it," he vowed. "I'm no fool, Ayame. I would never let a beautiful demoness such as yourself to slip through my grasp."

"Even if I can't detect jewel shards?"

"I have no need for jewel shards, Ayame. My strength comes from training and honing my skills. Not from something as pathetic as the Shikon no Tama," Hiroshi stated with conviction. "I have no desire to be something that I'm not. The Shikon no Tama means nothing to me."

"But it means something to the tribe," she pointed out. "My grandfather wants someone strong to be able to take over the tribe. That's why he wanted Kouga. Kouga has . . ."

"A jewel shard in each leg," he finished. "He's also on a vendetta against the dark hanyou, Naraku, because of what happened with the wind demoness, Kagura. Because he has the jewel shards, he _thinks_ he's strong enough to take on anyone who might cross his path and anger him. He's just fooling himself, though. I can assure you of that, Ayame. The jewel will be the tribe's downfall, as it is the downfall of all who seek to possess it."

"Hiroshi . . ."

He closed the distance between them and took her hands into his.

"I've lived a long time, Ayame. I have no other desire in this world other than to be with you."

"And to rule over these lands? I'm no fool, Hiroshi. I know what mating with me would mean for you," she stated. Hiroshi smirked a little.

"My dear, I do not need to mate with you to take over these lands. They're mine by birthright. I _am_ Rei Inu's youngest son, after all."

888888888

Sango paced back and forth, wringing her hands nervously. After Kagome had left with Kouga, she and Miroku had tried to coax Inuyasha back to their campsite, so they could talk about everything that had transpired. It had stabbed at her heart to see his look of utter devastation. But their attempts to keep him in one place had failed. When they'd gotten him to his feet, the first thing Inuyasha had done was take off. Where, she had no idea. The half-demon was simply too fast for her or Kirara to keep up with. It was after the silver-haired male had disappeared that she had turned on Miroku, only to find out Inuyasha had been running towards Sesshomaru. Not her and Kagome.

'How did things get so messed up?' she sighed to herself. 'How could we not have seen _that_ change in Inuyasha?'

After Inuyasha had confessed to Kikyou releasing him from his promise, Sango had wracked her brains for the reason why they hadn't noticed it sooner. Inuyasha had stopped running off to see the undead priestess around the same time Kagome had decided to give Kouga a chance. She saw that now.

'And every time he brought up Kikyou, we bit his head off and Kagome 'sat' him,' she sighed. 'If only we'd have listened to him sooner . . .'

A hand clasping her shoulder startled her out her thoughts and Sango whirled around, her hands balled up. Miroku just barely managed to dodge as her fist swung out. Sango blinked then took a deep breath to calm herself. She hadn't realized she'd been that on edge.

"Sorry," she murmured. He offered her a bit of a lopsided, if somewhat mirthless smile.

"It's quite all right," Miroku stated. "I don't blame you for lashing out like that, especially with the strong demonic aura to the south of us."

"What?"

Her eyes went in the direction that Miroku had indicated then widened. She felt it, had been feeling it, and that had been setting her on edge. More so than usual.

"That's the direction Inuyasha ran in," she murmured. Instinctively, she ran for her hiraikotsu and calling Kirara to her side. Talking to Kagome would have to wait. Inuyasha needed them more.

888888888

Icy blue eyes gazed her, almost in amusement at her declaration of why the half-demon had been interested in her. He was the youngest son to Rei Inu?

"Kami," she breathed, her knees feeling weak. Unlike Kouga and most members of the wolf tribe, Ayame knew who several of the youkai lords were and who had come before them. Her grandfather had talked constantly about Lord Rei Inu and how he'd been such a formidable foe, how _anyone_ of that bloodline would be an opponent no wolf could take on. Inuyoukai only grew stronger with age and even more so when they had someone to defend. Most youkai ridiculed them for taking a keen interest in humans, including the wolf tribes, but very rarely said anything to the inuyoukai about it. To do so was to invite certain death.

"Yes, Ayame. These lands are mine by all rights. I could take over in the blink of an eye, and effectively force the wolf tribes to find another place to live. However, the land, my title . . . they mean nothing to me. They've never meant much to me and they never will. There are more important things to be concerned about."

Ayame took a deep, steadying breath while he spoke. If what he said was true, and she did believe him for no one invoked Lord Rei Inu's name as casually as he had, then she'd be a fool to pass the opportunity by. However, Ayame was not a greedy person. Her tribe's needs came first above her own needs.

And her tribe needed someone like Hiroshi, the youngest son to Lord Rei Inu. Though he was a half-demon, he still possessed power and knowledge. There was no way Kouga or any other male wolf could rival him. She offered him a wan smile. Hiroshi had said he was there for her, even when he couldn't be for his nephew . . . because he desired her. It felt good to hear such things, especially from another male youkai. Ayame nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. "I'll let you stay . . . to prove that you're the one for me, Hiroshi."

"That's all I'm asking for, Ayame. That's all I'm asking for."

888888888

'Please . . . don't let us be too late,' Kagome prayed as Kouga had picked up his pace. They had just started to take off back to the campsite when she'd detected the sacred jewel . . . and Naraku's presence. He was south of them and she feared for her friends' safety. However, it never crossed her mind that Naraku knew about her decision to be with Kouga and had intended to use it against her.

They ran on.

888888888

Naraku glanced at the pale face, and the unseeing golden eyes of his longtime nemesis. For a moment, he wasn't sure if the inu hanyou knew he was there or if he wanted to continue with what he had planned. Then he shook his head.

'Doesn't matter,' Naraku decided as he lifted the puppy-eared male into his arms. 'He's of use to me.'

A light wind came from the north, bringing with it the scents of Inuyasha's traveling companions. A soft smile touched his lips.

'So they know that I'm here . . . Good. Let's make them wonder about your health, shall we, Inuyasha?'

With the still-shocked half-demon in his arms, Naraku took off to his castle, his barrier blocking his scent as he did so. He'd make them wonder, all right. And with that wonder, the guilt and the tension would rise. Then, when the moment was right, he'd strike. In the meantime, he'd have a little fun.

He laughed as he ran.

888888888

Kikyou lifted her head just as Sesshomaru came into view. Her senses had begun to tingle, telling her that an enemy was nearby. An enemy who possessed the nearly complete Shikon no Tama.

"Naraku," she whispered. Before she knew it, Sesshomaru was gone once more, his aura heading back to the north.

She had a very bad feeling about this.


	5. Chapter 5

Kagura watched as Naraku approached the castle, the miasma dissipating some. It was a surprise to the wind sorceress, for the crimson-eyed man preferred to have the miasma thick. His miasma proved to be quite the deterrent for most humans and demons who sought to attack the castle, often killing most within minutes. However, as he drew closer to the castle, she observed that he was moving slowly, a flash of red greeting her eyes. In the dark hanyou's arm was a familiar form, his silvery-white hair nearly hitting the ground. Kagura felt her jaw dropping. Naraku was bringing _Inuyasha_ to the castle?!

'He's gone crazy,' she thought. 'He's finally gone crazy. Why would he bring his most hated enemy here?'

Of course, she knew of the tryst that had been going on between Kouga and Kagome, had watched it unfold either from a distance or over Naraku's shoulders when he was watching it through Kanna's mirror. She knew that Inuyasha had remained unaware of the situation, even as his friends knew of it and continued to encourage the miko to tell him. It had been going on for months now.

Naraku reached her at that moment, a triumphant smirk upon his face. In his arms, Inuyasha remained unconscious. How the hanyou had ended up in that condition, Kagura couldn't say. He had no injuries to indicate a battle had taken place.

"Naraku?"

The strange hanyou gave her this strange look that she could only describe as . . . suspicious. She started to say more but he beat her to it.

"He knows the truth. Can't you smell the sweet scent of agony coming from him?"

She hesitated for a moment, unsure if Naraku was telling her the truth. Then Kagura happened to glance at Inuyasha himself. The expression of absolute misery confirmed what Naraku had told her. But how had Inuyasha found out? She thought that Naraku wasn't going to do anything until the moment was right.

"How . . ." she began, her face scrunching as she tried to think of the words that wouldn't bring Naraku's wrath on her. Though he seemed quite cheerful, she felt it wouldn't stay that way if she began to pry into whatever he felt wasn't her business. His mood could never be predicted.

"He followed his brother's scent to where the wolf and the miko were going to meet . . . the scene," he licked his lips, "played out rather deliciously, too, I might add."

"He found out on his own?" Kagura felt her eyes bugging out of her head at hearing that. Naraku nodded, a feral sort of smile gracing his features.

"Hai . . . now if you'll excuse me . . . there's a distraught hanyou in my arms . . ." He trailed off but his eyes gleamed with malicious intent. Kagura felt a chill stealing over her at the look in his eyes. Before she could say anything more or inquire about the actual details, Naraku turned and walked down one of the corridors, disappearing within moments.

'This can't be good,' she thought as she watched him go, Inuyasha's hair flowing behind the dark hanyou like a fine, shimmering curtain.

'Not good at all.'

888888888

Kouga growled deep in his throat as Naraku's scent grew stronger. Inuyasha's had grown stronger as well and _that_ raised the wolf's hackles. As far as he was concerned, the mutt had _no_ right to be going after Naraku. _He_ would be the one to bring that bastard down, especially after what he'd done to the wolf tribes.

'Like that mutt would be able to defeat Naraku on his own,' Kouga snorted to himself, putting on a little burst of speed. He couldn't run at his normal break-neck speed, not with Kagome riding on his back. He didn't want to scare her like he had that first time he'd kidnapped her or, worse, hurt her. She was going to be the alpha female of his clan, the bearer of his children. The last thing he wanted was for her to change her mind and go back to Inuyasha because she thought he was being careless with her.

He ran on, believing he'd make it to where Naraku was before the bastard disappeared once more and before any battle could ensue.

888888888

"This . . . isn't good," Miroku murmured. Sango shook her head, an agreement with his assessment.

They had run as quickly as they could to the source where Naraku's demonic aura had originated but had gotten there too late. The dark hanyou had disappeared once more. So had Inuyasha.

The strange thing about the site, however, was the lack of damage. That had been the very first thing Sango had noticed. While she knew that Inuyasha had been deeply hurt and upset by Kagome's decision, she didn't believe that he'd be that distraught as to not fight Naraku or run from him. Inuyasha hated the crimson-eyed man, especially after the hell he'd put all of them through. Something had happened here. Of that she was sure.

'But what?' she wondered. 'There isn't any sign of a battle. There isn't even any sign of a struggle! What happened here?'

"What happened?" a female voice inquired, worry and concern lacing her tone and echoing Sango's thoughts. She and Miroku turned around just as Kouga and Kagome arrived, the wolf looking extremely upset in comparison.  
"We don't know," Sango shook her head. "We just got here."

"That bastard was here," Kouga growled, his eyes darting about and his fangs bared. "I can smell him. I can smell Inuyasha, too . . ."

"We know . . . but they've disappeared . . . and there doesn't appear to be any signs of a battle," Miroku stated, his expression becoming troubled.

"Then we need to go after them!" Kagome exclaimed. "Inuyasha needs our help! Who knows what Naraku could be doing to him right now!"

"And what, pray tell," a cool, smooth voice intoned, "makes you think Inuyasha will want your help, little miko? Especially after what you've done to him?"

At the sound of the daiyoukai's voice, Sango reached for her hiraikotsu, knowing they were in some serious trouble without Inuyasha there. She highly doubted that Kouga could take on Sesshomaru. The daiyoukai had been more than enough for Inuyasha to handle and Inuyasha was strong, especially for a half-demon.

'We are in some serious trouble. Inuyasha, where are you?'

888888888

Naraku stared at the stunning visage before him, his eyes hungrily devouring Inuyasha's appearance. He knew that not very many half-demons were graced with beauty that Inuyasha possessed. Liks his older half-brother, Inuyasha had, what he felt, were the most stunning eyes. They were like warm, golden honey, so sweet and delicious. The only difference between Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's eyes were how expressive they were. One could always tell what Inuyasha was feeling just by looking at his eyes. Then there were those puppy ears that Inuyasha possessed, so soft, so delicate . . . Naraku knew this because he had, on many occasions, visited Inuyasha while he'd been pinned to the Goshinboku tree and had touched them every single time. He couldn't help but admire Inuyasha for this unnatural beauty. His own appearance he had stolen from Hitomi Kagawaki and it made it easy for him to blend in and hide his scent for the most part. But Inuyasha . . . well, he wasn't like most half-demons. Naraku knew Inuyasha was by far stronger, physically, than he was. He was stronger than what anyone truly realized, including that idiotic wolf, Kouga.

And, like all hanyou, Inuyasha craved to be accepted, to be loved . . . it had been something he'd been able to use to his advantage. The miko choosing the wolf demon tribe leader over the puppy-eared male would be no different, he figured. Naraku smiled as he inched closer.

'Definitely very beautiful,' he sighed to himself. He wanted to touch Inuyasha, wanted to touch the boy badly . . . do things to him that Naraku had not dared to do when Inuyasha had been pinned to the Goshinboku, especially with the entire village of Edo watching over the slumbering half-demon. However, now that he had Inuyasha in front of him . . .

One hand tentatively reached out but stopped within inches of Inuyasha's fire-rat haori. Though the silver-haired hanyou slept, it could change at any moment. Naraku was very well aware of this . . . but he also wanted to feel the boy's skin, to see what the stunning creature before him looked like without the baggy clothing hiding his form. Then he quickly shook away his hesitation. To him, it didn't matter if Inuyasha awoke or not. Either way would be amusing for him, especially for the mind fuck that it would create. Naraku slipped his hand in between the folds of Inuyasha's yukata and haori, pushing the fabrics a little to the side.

Underneath his fingers was the smoothest flesh he was quite certain he'd ever encountered. It beat the finest of silks and velvets, and Naraku shivered as his fingers continued caress the skin he'd revealed. However, he wasn't content with what he'd uncovered. He wanted to feel more, to see more, and he wouldn't be satisfied until he had.

His hand pushed away more of Inuyasha's yukata and haori, revealing creamy white flesh, and traveled lower until both had been pulled out from under the red hakama. Naraku felt his breath hitch at the sight before him. A well-defined chest, flat belly . . . the only blemish the boy seemed to have was a small scar on the right part of his upper torso, no doubt from when he'd been pinned to the tree and the flesh grew around the arrow. Still, even with that tiny imperfection, he found he liked what he was seeing.

Of their own accord, his fingers danced across the inu hanyou's chest, slowly, intricately, caressing and teasing here and there. The flesh under him quivered and trembled but nothing more happened. Inuyasha remained unconscious, his breathing steady and normal. Naraku kept going until every inch of Inuyasha's torso had been explored and memorized, and he had the haori and yukata tossed to one side. Then he did something that took him by surprise. He leaned over Inuyasha . . . and kissed him.

For a moment, Naraku thought for sure his action would wake the hanyou. He knew it would have awakened him if someone had kissed him. Inuyasha, however, never moved. Inuyasha's eyes remained closed, his expression still a cross between pained and peaceful.

Naraku frowned, his ire starting to rise at unresponsive hanyou. He _wanted_ Inuyasha to wake up, to become angry and disgusted with what was going on. It was the only way for him to have his fun.

"You are being very stubborn, Inuyasha. Very stubborn, indeed," Naraku growled softly. "You know that?"

No answer. The dark hanyou shook his head, trying to keep his anger from getting out of control. He didn't want to believe that Inuyasha had fallen as far as he had. Inuyasha was stronger than that. Naraku knew this. He decided to keep going with his current tactic . . . with a little twist. A seductive smile curled onto his lips as he straddled the inu hanyou and caressed his sides.  
"Maybe I should just have my way with you," he purred, nuzzling and licking the junction between Inuyasha's neck and shoulder. "You're not doing anything to stop me, after all."

He expected Inuyasha to wake from his coma and snarl at him, fangs bared and claws slashing towards him. He expected a fight. He _wanted_ a fight. However, nothing prepared him for what would happen next.

Inuyasha's chest rose, a deep breath being drawn sharply. His golden honey eyes opened, revealing a profound and agonizing pain. But he never moved. He never tried to push Naraku. His gaze remained on the ceiling as he spoke in a strange, soft and melodic voice.

"Do what you want. I don't care anymore."


	6. Chapter 6

Naraku was not happy. There really was no other way to say it. He was not happy.

A day had passed since he'd taken Inuyasha captive. A day had passed since he'd taken the silver-haired hanyou to his bedchambers and had _tried_ to mess with the boy's mind . . . a day had passed since his nemesis had blatantly given him permission to do as he pleased with him.

To say that Inuyasha's behaviour had shocked him would have been an understatement. Naraku had been expecting something more volatile, more . . . panicked. Not absolute submission. The moment he had heard those words escape Inuyasha's lips, he withdrew from the boy immediately.

'What is his game?' he thought, his expression marred into a scowl. 'Is he trying to mess with me, the same way I was trying to mess with him? Did he really want me to touch him like that? Is he trying to get me to kill him?'

Recent events were not lost on Naraku. He knew by the tinge in the air that Inuyasha had been overwhelmed by despair and his feelings of hurt and betrayal. He knew it just as sure as he held the nearly complete Shikon no Tama in his possession . . .

Naraku's eyes widened.

The Shikon no Tama.

He pulled it out of the folds of his kimono to gaze at it, noting how much darker it had become since he had brought Inuyasha to his castle. Crimson eyes took in every detail.

'Perhaps he is playing with me. Perhaps this is his true goal . . . maybe what I saw was staged . . . no . . . couldn't have been. He's too miserable for that . . . but he isn't stupid. Never has been. Never will be. He just acts like he is.'

Naraku was all too aware of just how intelligent Inuyasha truly was. The fact that he had remained clueless about the miko's indiscretions with the wolf proved nothing. _He_ knew what Inuyasha was _truly_ capable of. He had watched when the boy had become contemplative and quiet. He had watched when Inuyasha had written out the most beautiful calligraphy he had ever seen. He knew that, other than Sesshomaru, Inuyasha was his most dangerous opponent because, under that brash, arrogant, and ignorant guise, lay a very intelligent young man who could, quite possibly, scheme with the best of them. He knew this because he had been watching the inu hanyou when the boy had thought no one else was around. Naraku had also seen how the hanyou's friends had slowly been changing him, turning him into something that he wasn't. They wanted things about him to change but on their terms and into what they wanted. Not on Inuyasha's terms or what he wanted. It was something else he had been hoping to use against them but now . . .

Now he had a very-depressed and quite possibly suicidal Inuyasha within his grasp. If the boy got his hands onto the Shikon no Tama by getting Naraku to lower his guard . . .

'He could be biding his time . . . waiting for the right moment to grab the Shikon no Tama and run with it . . . but what would he do with it? What would he wish for now?'

The dark hanyou quickly shoved the darkened jewel back into his kimono, his scowl deepening. He didn't like the thought that Inuyasha had somehow managed to outsmart him.

'There's only one way to find out,' he told himself darkly as he stormed out of the room and to where Inuyasha currently lay. He had an idea and he intended to act upon it.

'Then we'll see who will outsmart who.'

An evil smile graced his features as he walked on.

888888888

Inuyasha drew a deep breath then exhaled shakily, his entire form trembling. His chest ached, not because he'd been taken captive by Naraku but from the horrid truth. Kagome didn't love him. She loved Kouga. The fact that she had, quite literally, screamed it in anger at him had only made the shock, and the pain, worse.

Tears had formed in his eyes but he couldn't cry. Not even with the pain as unbearable as it was could he cry. His anguish had taken on a true physical form, becoming round and large, like the red ball he had played with as a child. His anguish then had lodged itself deep into his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe, to even try to move. Everything he had ever wanted, everything he had ever hoped for, vanished when Kagome had made her declaration. His happiness had evaporated, self-loathing taking its place.

'She said she didn't care . . . that I was hanyou . . . she said that she didn't care . . . she said that she liked me just the way I was . . . she said she'd be there for me . . . always . . . she lied . . . she lied . . . Where did I go wrong? What did I do to deserve this? Why did she choose him over me? Why?'

'Fool, you know why,' a little voice whispered. 'You're _hanyou_. No one wants a hanyou. How many times do you need to be told that for you to get it through your head?'

'She said she didn't care . . . that she liked me just the way I was . . .'

'Then why is she with Kouga now? Why is she with a _full youkai_ and not you?'

'I don't know . . .'

'Oh, yes you do, Inuyasha,' that little voice mocked. 'Because you're worthless. You always have been, always will be. There isn't anything you can offer her. The monk knew it. The taijiya knew it. Hell, even Shippou and Kouga knew it. Kagome finally realized what everyone else knew all along. You're worthless, a half-breed, and no one has a use for a half-breed.'

'But she . . .'

He wanted to deny what that little voice was telling him but the truth remained. Kagome had chosen Kouga over him. Had chosen full youkai Kouga over half-demon him. His half-breed status had mattered after all.

'She lied . . . she lied . . . Kami, she lied . . .'

Each word stabbed at his heart, sending him further into the depths of despair and depression. His mind played the events over and over again his mind, recalling the numerous times that she'd held him . . . how she had given him one of those smiles, those smiles that told him how she truly felt about him . . . how she had vowed to stay by his side, even after he'd turned youkai and killed those ningens . . . of her kissing Kouga warmly, the anger in her eyes as she told him she was no longer his girl . . . With every memory, every word said, Inuyasha died all over again.

888888888

Kagome shifted uncomfortably under the cold and harsh glares of Kikyou and Ayame. Both females were decidedly very unhappy with her and she really couldn't blame them. Not after what had happened with Inuyasha, though how Ayame and her new mate, an inu hanyou named Hiroshi, had found out about her relationship with Kouga had eluded her. Yet, she didn't dare ask, either. Things needed to be explained first, clarified, as to why she had made the decision that she had.

'How did things turn out like this?' she silently bemoaned to herself.

After Inuyasha's initial disappearance, no one was entirely sure as to what to do. It was obvious that he needed help, especially if he'd been captured by Naraku like they had believed and continued to believe. Then Sesshomaru had shown up just as she had said he'd need their help and had pointed out that maybe Inuyasha wouldn't _want_ their help. Not after what had happened.

At first, Kagome refused to believe that. Inuyasha was her friend, after all, and she didn't want to believe that she'd hurt him that bad. Then Sango and Miroku had told her of what had happened after she and Kouga had left, of how lost Inuyasha had seemed and of his confession about Kikyou. The "I-told-you-so" look Miroku had given her and the stiffness in his tone during that conversation had not been lost on Kagome, either. Both had also made it very clear that they weren't happy with her, especially for the lies that she insisted they tell Inuyasha. They had seen his expression after she'd taken off with Kouga and had tried to deal with him before he'd taken off. It hadn't worked. Inuyasha had been truly hurt and devastated by her confession. Their words had created a small amount of tension between them as they went back and forth on the whole situation.

As the talking had continued, Kikyou showed up along with Rin and Jaken. The miko had then confirmed what Inuyasha had said to Sango and Miroku, and she had learned of what had just happened with the hanyou. She hadn't been too happy to hear about Kagome's decision to be with Kouga rather than Inuyasha, and she had echoed Sesshomaru's sentiment, that Inuyasha probably wouldn't want to be helped by them, that he'd rather deal with the dark hanyou on his own and make his own escape. Finally, after they had talked about what had possibly had happened to the hanyou and what they could do, Ayame had shown up with Hiroshi.

To say that Hiroshi's appearance had been a shock to her would have been an understatement. She knew that hanyous existed, having been around Inuyasha since her arrival to the feudal era. Then they'd met Jinenji, a hanyou of indeterminate origin, and Shiori, a bat hanyou, in their journeys. The fact that Hiroshi was hanyou hadn't been what had stunned the miko reincarnate. It had been Hiroshi's appearance and his strong resemblance to Inuyasha. They had been surprised to see another inu hanyou, even Sesshomaru. Of course, everyone but Sesshomaru had believed him to be Inuyasha at first, not paying attention to the fact that he had blue eyes, not gold, and stood nearly as tall as Sesshomaru. The first thing Kagome had done when the two had come into sight had been to yell at him for running off and worrying everyone as much as he had. When he hadn't yelled back, when he'd only raised a bemused eyebrow in response at her, that was when they had realized he wasn't Inuyasha.

That brought her to now, where Kikyou and Ayame were glaring at her for what she had done. She knew that, if she had to, she'd make the same decision all over again. Kouga, by far, was much sweeter to her than Inuyasha had ever been and very affectionate. He didn't see the ghost of a former lover in her face. He didn't see her as just a mere shard detector. Kouga had confessed to her that he loved her from the very beginning and she had finally decided to give him a chance. In the process, she felt as if she'd discovered someone truly wonderful. She loved Kouga with all of her heart and there wasn't anything anyone could do to change it.

"You two can quit glaring at her anytime," Sango finally stated, irritation lacing her tone. "What's done is done. There isn't anything we can do to change it."

'Thank you, Sango,' she thought as she smiled gratefully at her friend. However, her relief was short-lived. Ayame scowled at the taijiya's words and turned her icy green eyes towards the older girl.

"I take it we're supposed to forgive her for what she's done?" the wolf demoness spat. "After what she did to Inuyasha? I don't think so."

"Ayame," Kouga intervened. "It was Kagome's decision to make as to who she wanted to be with. Not Inuyasha's."

"That isn't the point," Kikyou stated, her own tone cool and neutral. "We are well aware of that fact. However, she shouldn't have kept it a secret from him, especially for as long as she did. She shouldn't have let him continue believing that he had a chance with her."

"I didn't . . ." Kagome began but then Hiroshi, who had remained silent for most of the past day, cut in.

"You did, child," he said gently. "You led him to believe that he still had a chance. You never once told him that you were no longer interested in him. Not once. You made your friends promise not to tell him and you even went out of your way to ensure that the kit never spoke of it to Inuyasha, either. You never once gave him any indication that things had changed. You didn't even listen to your friends as they kept telling you that you needed to tell him, before it became too late. Each time, you found another excuse to cover up your absence. Each time they lied for you and covered for your little excursions . . ." He paused for a moment. "You knew it would hurt him yet you did nothing, said nothing. And the entire time, he believed in you, trusted you not to hurt him."

"And how would _you_ know?" Kouga snarled, rising to his feet. "You weren't even there!"

Hiroshi raised an eyebrow at the wolf, his expression remaining calm and stoic. Again, Kagome was painfully reminded of his resemblance to Inuyasha and of everything that he could have been if he'd just been given a chance. She didn't even pay attention to the fact that the hanyou before her was nearly as cold as Sesshomaru.

"Actually, I was there, just not in a physical sense," came the quiet declaration. "I've been watching over my nephew since the day he was born."

"Your nephew?" All eyes, again except for Sesshomaru and this time Ayame, stared at him in shock. Kagome felt her jaw dropping. Hiroshi was Inuyasha's uncle? Anger started to course through her as the older male continued to speak.

"Hai," the hanyou nodded. "Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are my nephews. Their father, the Inu no Taisho, was my older brother."

"If you were watching over him, why didn't you do anything to help him when he was younger?" Kagome demanded, now rising to her feet. She simply couldn't take it any more. "Have you any idea . . ."

"Do not take that tone with me, little miko," Hiroshi murmured, his blue eyes flashing. "I am not Inuyasha. I am not someone whom you can yell at and get your way with nor am I someone whom you can 'sit.' I will not hesitate to put you in your proper place for such disrespect. As far as I'm concerned, you no longer have that right to be angry on his behalf anymore. Not after what you've pulled. Not after what you have done to him."

"But you . . ."

Anger seethed throughout her form as she now glared at the inu hanyou in front of her as he continued to gaze coolly at her. She knew that Inuyasha had not had an easy time as a child. She knew that. He'd been born different. That alone had made him a target for humans and youkai alike. She'd caught glimpses of that whenever they'd entered a village and during their encounters with Jinenji and Shiori. To hear that Hiroshi, a hanyou and a _relative_ no less, had left Inuyasha to his own devices . . .

"He had no choice, little miko. Father had made him promise to watch over Inuyasha only. Never to intervene, never to care for the boy," Sesshomaru half-sighed, half-growled. "Also, I would not have allowed him to take Inuyasha from these lands. Not when Father wanted him to stay here. Inuyasha was _my_ responsibility and mine alone once his mother passed on. Not my uncle's nor anyone else's in our bloodline. And my uncle is correct. You do not have the right to be angry on Inuyasha's behalf."

"But . . ."

"It's a losing argument for you, girl," Hiroshi snapped. "Give it up. It's as the taijiya said a few moments ago, what's done is done. There isn't anything we can do to change it."

"But he's my friend!" she fumed, her fists clenched at her side.

All around her fell silent. Hiroshi met her gaze head on as he rose to his feet, his eyes becoming ice cold.

"Your friend?" he hissed. "Inuyasha is . . . your friend? You call sneaking around his back with his rival being his friend? You call months of lying and covering your deeds being his friend? Have you any idea as to what you've done?"

"I had to!" she yelled. "He'd have killed Kouga otherwise and I couldn't allow that!"

"Kagome, Hiroshi's right," Miroku murmured. "You weren't exactly honest with Inuyasha these last few months."

"I didn't want to hurt him . . ."

"It's a little late to be saying that," Ayame grumbled. Kagome shot her a nasty glare which the wolf demoness promptly returned. However, Miroku's intervention quickly changed that.

"You still ended up hurting him, though, Kagome," the monk stated, a hint of sadness lacing his tone. "In his mind, you've betrayed him by taking up with Kouga . . . you've destroyed the trust you had built with him."

"His . . . trust?" Kagome felt the blood rushing from her face the moment the words passed her lips.

"Yes, Kagome," Sango chimed in. "His trust. You were the last person Inuyasha ever expected to hurt him like that."

Kagome felt herself going weak in the knees as the realization washed over her. She had done everything she could to gain Inuyasha's trust but had always felt that she hadn't gained it completely. There were still so many things about him that she didn't know, because he wouldn't talk to her about what troubled him. It had driven her crazy to feel that he didn't trust her but to hear that he did . . .

'Of course, he trusted me. He trusted me more than he did anyone else . . . and like an idiot, I destroyed that.'

Around her, the conversation continued and she did her best to focus.

"So you knew the entire time," Miroku stated, quickly bringing the discussion back to where it needed to be. "You knew exactly what was going on yet you did nothing."

"I _did_ do something," the hanyou responded. "I told Ayame what was going on. I knew she'd be just as hurt by this as Inuyasha."

"You still could have told him," the monk pointed out, to which Hiroshi quickly shook his head.

"No. My promise to my brother prevents me from even approaching Inuyasha at this point. He is not ready to see me. All I could do . . . all I can still do . . . is watch over him."

"How were you able to watch over Inuyasha?" Sango inquired. "Especially, if I'm interpreting Sesshomaru's words correctly, if you weren't anywhere near him?"

"Easy, slayer. Like this."

Hiroshi snapped his fingers. Something bluish-green whizzed right in front of them, startling nearly everyone there. A moment later, a strange-looking, peacock-coloured miniature dragon had landed on the older hanyou's wrist, its gossamer wings still fluttering and golden eyes glittering. Hiroshi then glanced at them rather smugly.

"Shinna is one of many creatures under my command and has watched over Inuyasha numerous times throughout the past. This is how I know. What she sees, my brother Akira and I see in our pool at our home on the continent. We know what he has gone through. We know about your secret trysts with the wolf. And if we know about them, you can be assured that your nemesis, Naraku, knows as well."


	7. Chapter 7

Sesshomaru stared out at the darkening nighttime sky, the last rays of daylight disappearing on the horizon, and a cool breeze picked up. It tugged gently on his clothing and hair but he paid no heed to it, just as he paid no heed to the sun as she made her descent. His thoughts were on his surroundings, taking in the usual nightly noises and listening for any youkai that might think to even attack his young ward . . . and going over the most recent of events that had happened with his brother.

The fact that the boy had gone missing did not surprise the daiyoukai. Inuyasha had done the only thing that he could think of, which was run away from the problem at hand. Sesshomaru thought it to be cowardly but then it had also probably seemed more preferable than hanging around the ningens who had claimed to be his friends. He couldn't say that he blamed the boy for needing to get away.

'It is still something he deserves,' he told himself, his gaze straight ahead. 'He should have known better than to trust a group of ningens.'

It had been the same discussion he'd had with himself since he'd walked away after witnessing the miko's declaration for the wolf over his brother. There really wasn't any way that someone, other than his mother and their father, could have ever loved Inuyasha the way that he craved to be loved. How many times did Inuyasha need to be betrayed by those who claimed to love him and care for him before he finally learned his lesson?

However, no matter how much he tried to tell him that Inuyasha had deserved what had happened to him, a small part of him felt . . . guilty. Inuyasha, whenever he'd been hurt before, had always reacted in anger and had always, _always_ vented his rage in some form or another. This time, he hadn't. He'd taken off, pain clouding his aura . . . a broken spirit.

In a way, a small part of Sesshomaru was upset over what the miko had done. All it had taken was for her to choose a wolf over his brother to break Inuyasha. _He_ had wanted to be the one to break his half-brother's spirt, to destroy the hanyou as he had been by the miko. It felt like a rather small injustice to Sesshomaru and it left him somewhat angered.

Still, his reasoning felt off . . . misplaced, for some reason, and Sesshomaru didn't like it. It didn't seem possible that someone as strong as Inuyasha could be broken so easily . . . and it didn't seem like he even truly deserved what had happened to him, either.

'Did he truly deserve to be hurt like that, though?'

That was the question that kept nagging at Sesshomaru. Did anyone deserve to be truly hurt like that? Inuyasha had bled for the miko. Sesshomaru knew as much for he'd been one of many to shed that blood. He knew that, if she had asked him, Inuyasha would have ripped his heart out for her. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her, yet she'd done this and now it bothered him when he told himself that Inuyasha had deserved it. It was making him crazy trying to answer that question. Then, as his gaze drifted across the small camp, his eyes landed on the form of a small girl who had somehow integrated herself into his life. The moment he saw her, he knew the answer to his question.His brother had not deserved what the miko had done. No one did.

888888888

The fire had nearly gone out. Hakkaku and Ginta had gone to get more firewood, to ensure that no one in the camp grew cold, leaving the camp silent except for the soft breathing of the sleeping ningens and kitsune. It left Kouga alone and awake, to deal with his restless minds and his thoughts.

Things had not turned quite as he planned or hoped. He had wanted to be there when Kagome finally told Inuyasha the truth. He had wanted to rub it into the hanyou's face that the pretty young miko had chosen him, a full youkai, over a tainted half-breed. Granted, that had not been the reason why Kagome had chosen him over Inuyasha but it still would have been nice to flaunt.

However, Kouga had not counted on hearing about Inuyasha's reaction to Kagome declaring her love for him over the half-breed. At first, he'd been happy that she'd finally told the hanyou off – it meant he could come around whenever he wanted, as often as he wanted, without Inuyasha chasing him away. Kagome's declaration had cemented things, had made his heart swell with the love and admiration that he'd felt for her since he'd first realized what a gem she truly was. Then, after he and Kagome had chased down Naraku's scent, he'd learned of Inuyasha's reaction, had seen first-hand the anger the taijiya and monk had at Kagome for having them keep silent on the matter. The tension between the three ningens had lessened some since then, but it hadn't completely disappeared. Not like Inuyasha had.

'And chances are, Naraku's the one behind Inuyasha's disappearance . . . dammit, this can't be good.'

A small part of Kouga felt guilty over what had happened and a bit responsible for Inuyasha's capture. If he'd insisted as hard and as often as the monk and taijiya had that Kagome tell Inuyasha about them sooner, the hanyou wouldn't have flipped out and taken off, only to be captured by Naraku. He knew that Inuyasha would be hurt by this. He knew it, just as everyone else had known it yet he, too, had remained silent about it. Of course, if he'd said anything to Inuyasha about it, it would have been met with disbelief from the hanyou. Kouga knew that. But that small part of him also questioned Kagome's loyalty. After all, for the longest time, Kagome had insisted that she loved Inuyasha. She'd defended him against Kouga on occasion and had always traveled with him, had continued _to_ travel with him after she'd made her decision. How she'd manage to keep it a secret as long as she had baffled the wolf leader and if she was capable of keeping secrets from Inuyasha . . .

'No,' he violently shook his head, ruthlessly shoving away his doubts and that small voice bringing them up. 'No. I can't doubt her. I mustn't doubt her. She's going to be my mate. She'll be the one to bear my strong children. I can't start doubting her now.'

Kouga glanced down at the young girl resting her head against his chest and smiled. He would never doubt her. She was a good woman, she had a very kind and brave heart . . . She'd forgiven him of his crimes and that was more than what most humans had ever done for him. Hell, she'd been able to put up with Inuyasha's shit and that said something. Kouga knew that the hanyou could not have been easy to deal with. He idly stroked her cheek then nuzzled her.

"Don't worry, my love. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll make you happy. I swear it."

888888888

Naraku stood in the door to Inuyasha's room and gazed at the still form of his nemesis, watching as the boy just lay there, his chest rising up and down with each breath that he took. As he'd done so many times in the past, he studied the silver-haired male, taking in his appearance once more. Of course, Inuyasha still remained topless from when he'd taken the boy's haori and yukata off some time before. The only thing Inuyasha done after that was roll onto his side. Naraku couldn't tell whether the natural-born hanyou was awake or sleep but then decided it didn't matter. He rather liked what he was seeing at the moment.

Quietly, though he was certain Inuyasha knew he was there, Naraku crossed the distance between them and knelt next to the boy. He sat there for a few moments longer, taking in some of the smaller details that he'd never been able to see before. As he gazed at the boy, taking in those small details, Naraku reached over and began to run his fingers through that silvery-white mane, noting its soft and silky smooth texture as he did so.

'So soft . . . needs to be washed, though . . . and brushed . . . I'm sure it'd be even softer then . . .'

Naraku tilted his head some as his fingers continued to comb through Inuyasha's hair, envisioning what the hanyou's hair would look like washed, brushed, and pulled up into a topknot similar to his own. He smiled as the vision greeted him, pleased that it made Inuyasha look rather princely. His mind, however, didn't stop there. It washed the dirt and tears from his face and the rest of his body, clad him in the finest of silk kimonos and hakamas. The colours of the clothes didn't matter. Whatever his mind conjured up, his nemesis looked absolutely stunning.

As he continued to mentally dress and redress Inuyasha, he recalled that he had never seen Inuyasha out of his usual red haori and hakama. The red clothing had become a part of the inu hanyou, just as the Tetsusaiga had as well. To take any part of that away from him would sever whatever ties he had with his friends and to his past . . . at least, he believed that they would. He had no sure way of knowing.

'Of course, I can always find out,' he thought to himself with a grin. He sent a mental call out to Kagura and waited for her to appear, still running his fingers through Inuyasha's hair. Within a few moments, the wind demoness appeared in the door.

"Yes, Naraku?"

"I want you to prepare a bath for myself and Inuyasha. Make sure that there are plenty of soaps and linens there for the two of us. And grab some of my clothing from my room. Something for myself and for Inuyasha . . . pick whatever you like.""Pardon?"

Naraku knew that she wasn't being disrespectful in questioning him. He knew it. He'd shocked her, after all, with his request. Disbelief radiated throughout her form. However, he didn't like his orders being questioned and he quickly turned his gaze towards her. Kagura immediately bowed and took a step back, her eyes wide with fear.

"As you wish, Naraku."

The wind demoness quickly hurried off to carry out his orders, allowing him to return his attention back to the heart-broken male laying next to him. He continued to stroke and pet Inuyasha's hair as he waited for his creation to return. The more he thought about what he wanted to do, the more determined he became to actually get it down. He didn't expect a fight from Inuyasha. The hanyou had not been very responsive to anything he'd done over the last few days. It had irritated Naraku to no end for he couldn't figure if Inuyasha was trying to mess with him the same way he was trying to mess with Inuyasha. This time, however, he wouldn't mind. Not when he could still use it to his advantage.

'I think it's time we let your friends see how well you're doing, Inuyasha. Let's see how they react to receiving this clothing you've never been without.'

888888888

Inuyasha sat quietly, patiently waiting for Naraku to finish doing whatever it was he had decided to do. Currently, that happened to be brushing his hair out and trying to get it pulled up, which was not an easy task. His hair had always remained in a constant state of tangles from running around so much. Before Naraku had tried to get his hair to behave, it had been a bath, in which he had allowed the dark hanyou to wash and dry him completely. Following the bath, Naraku had dressed him in some fresh clothing . . . silks, by the feel of them. They felt . . . light against his flesh and foreign. He'd grown accustomed to the warmth of his fire-rat haori, had vehemently refused to wear anything else because of the value the clothes held to him yet . . . there he was, dressed in fine silks, having allowed his nemesis to do this to him. For some reason, though, he just couldn't bring himself to care.

"Almost done," came the soft purr as Naraku continued to brush and tug on his hair. "Then you can see for yourself what it is that I've accomplished."

"Mmm," was about the only thing that Inuyasha could even muster to say to his enemy. Deep down, he knew that Naraku didn't care about him, that the dark hanyou was using him in some grand scheme and would eventually use it against him. That was just how it worked with Naraku. He didn't care about anything except his only personal gain.

'At least . . . at least I know I'm just a pawn to him . . . that he'll just toss me to the side once he's done with me . . . what he's always done . . .'

Such thoughts would have normally angered him. He had hated Naraku, ever since he had learned that he'd been the one to kill Kikyou over fifty years ago and had pitted her against him back then. There hadn't been anything more that he had wanted than to simply kill the bastard for that and retrieve the Shikon no Tama in the process. Now . . .

Now he took a small bit of comfort in that knowledge. If anything wouldn't change, it would be Naraku's feelings towards him. He could count on the dark-haired male to use him for whatever twisted scheme, just so that he could suffer a little more.

'That's all I'm really good for anyway,' he thought as he tried to console himself a little more with that knowledge. 'To be used and tossed aside . . . like trash . . .'

Within a few moments, the tugging on his hair had ceased and Kanna, Naraku's void incarnation, was walking towards them.

"All finished," Naraku stated triumphantly. "Take a look."

Inuyasha raised his head to see his reflection in the mirror. However, he didn't notice the way his hair shimmered and glistened like the finest of silver. He didn't notice that the dark shades of blue and violet brought out the colour in his eyes or how much he looked like his father at that moment, if he had known. All he saw was the pain that had entered his eyes. All he saw was the sadness that had come from the betrayal that had become his life. All he saw was a shattered husk of who he once used to be . . .

With a tired sigh, he closed his eyes and wished for the death he knew that had to be waiting for him.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure about this?"

Kagome paused to listen as Hiroshi and another inuyoukai conversed quietly with each other. Normally, she wouldn't eavesdrop on a conversation. Normally. However, she had a feeling that this conversation pertained to Inuyasha and his possible whereabouts and she wanted to know where he was at, make sure that he was, in fact, okay and not Naraku's captive.

It had been nearly a month since the hanyou had disappeared without a trace. Everyone's initial fear had been that Naraku had captured Inuyasha while he was in a distraught state and that he'd be able to manipulate their friend into doing whatever his twisted mind could come up with. However, in that month, they'd not heard anything from the dark hanyou and it was odd in their minds. They all knew that it would have been a perfect time for him to attack, especially since they knew that the Tetsusaiga was the only thing that could defeat him.

However, because Naraku hadn't made a move or had given any indication that he had, in fact, taken Inuyasha captive, they had soon come to hope that their hanyou friend had not been captured, that it was just another mind game on Naraku's part. It was just a matter of finding out where Inuyasha had gone to.

'Which is what I hope they're talking about,' Kagome thought as she held her breath.

"Hai, otouto," the inuyoukai confirmed. "I'm sure."

"Well," Hiroshi mused. "This definitely changes everything, doesn't it, Akira?"

To that, the one addressed as Akira nodded.

"We should inform them of what's been happening . . . at least, of what's happened."

"And why do you say that, aniki?" Hiroshi folded his arms. Akira then shrugged.

"A moral sense of obligation? I'm not sure, Hiroshi. I'm not happy with how things have turned out and with where he's at. But they should know of this at the very least. Perhaps they'll know of a way to get to him."

"Hmmm."

Whatever it was that Akira had told Hiroshi, it now had the hanyou thinking. Kagome could see that. She glanced back and forth between the two, barely noticing the resemblance between them or the similarities between Akira and Sesshomaru. All her mind could think of was what it was they were discussing and how it pertained to their strange little traveling group.

Hiroshi and Ayame now traveled with them, as did Kouga, Ginta, and Hakkaku. Sesshomaru, Kikyou, and their small group had disappeared shortly after Inuyasha's disappearance and it had made Kagome a little glad to see them go. For some reason, after a few days, Sesshomaru's attitude towards her had changed. He'd always been cold and distant towards ningens in general but towards her, he was even more so. She'd even thought she saw something akin to malice in his eyes before he'd left. However, it had come and gone quickly, leaving her to wonder if she'd actually seen it.

"We can tell them," Hiroshi said finally. "Perhaps they will know how to get to him. However, given where he's at and his current state, I don't think he cares much anymore."

"I know he doesn't," Akira replied grimly, his golden eyes glittering. Hiroshi then smirked.

"I see. So that is why you wish to tell them? To show them what they have truly done to him?"

"Hai."

Kagome felt her heart sink at those words. If she'd had any doubts before that they'd been talking about Inuyasha, she didn't anymore. Given Akira's cold tone, she knew that, whatever he had to say, it wasn't good. As if her heart couldn't take anymore of the guilt. Once it had been pointed out to her about Inuyasha trusting her not to hurt him like that, she mentally berated herself and had continued to do so over the last month. Even her mother had been upset with her when she'd finally confessed what had happened on one of her trips home.

"Very well then. We'll tell them."

"You tell them, Hiroshi. I do not wish to be near them right this moment. I do not wish to see their looks of remorse and regret. And I wish to return to the North. The warmth is getting to me," Akira murmured. To that, Hiroshi nodded.

"As you wish, aniki."

With that, the inuyoukai, who Kagome now noticed as having the same blue crescent moon in the center of his forehead like Sesshomaru had and a single blue stripe on each arm and cheek, turned and headed for the forest. Hiroshi's own form moved until he faced her, his blue eyes glittering.

"Spying, miko?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"N-no," she quickly stammered. "I just . . ."

"It doesn't matter, girl. You're going to find out anyway."

He quickly breezed by her and sat down on a nearby log. Whatever had been told to the inu hanyou, he wasn't going to say. Not until everyone else had come back from their hunting and gathering chores. Kagome sat quietly across from him, her gaze never leaving Hiroshi's stoic form.

'I've got a very bad feeling about this.'

888888888

Akira quickly strode away from his youngest brother had made camp with the wolf and ningen, trying his best to keep his anger reined in. He would never forgive them for what they had done to his nephew. Never.

'And I will never forgive you, Tai, for making me promise never to interfere in his life. Never.'

If it hadn't been for InuTaisho making he and Hiroshi promise never to have anything to do with Inuyasha, Akira would have gone to the boy as soon as his mother had passed on and taken the child into his care. It would have been much to Hiroshi's dislike but then Akira wouldn't have cared. He had wanted that boy to be an active part of his life, someone whom he could cuddle and to teach. Unlike his brothers, Akira wanted to have a child in his life, someone whom he could mold in his own image. He just hadn't find the right female to settle down with so he could have pups of his own. If it hadn't been for that promise . . .

'I hope you're happy, Tai,' Akira thought darkly. 'Wherever you're at, I hope you're happy. Your youngest son has been broken, by the ningens who claimed to care for him.'

Akira walked on.

888888888

Naraku let out a growl of frustration as he resisted the urge to strike the hanyou that sat before him. The hanyou that had yet to say more than two words to him. The hanyou that had yet to react to anything that he did.

In the month that he'd taken Inuyasha captive, Naraku had done his absolute best to get the boy to react to him. He'd tried a mind fuck then had changed his tactics, being the nicest that he could possibly be to Inuyasha. He'd bathed the inu hanyou, clothed him in the finest of silks, and had brushed out the boy's hair and pulled it up into a likeness of his own. Naraku had even made his miasma disappear completely and had given Inuyasha the best foods and drinks to consume.

Inuyasha had done nothing. Barely ate, barely drank, only doing so if Naraku or Kagura brought the food or the cup to his lips and even then it wasn't much. He either sat there (doing so only if someone pulled him into that upright position) or lay there listlessly, his golden eyes pale and dull. His lethargic behaviour was starting to grate on Naraku's nerves.

'Why is he like this?' his mind demanded of him. 'This isn't right. No one's this lethargic.'

'I don't know,' he told himself. 'I can't figure it out.'

'He's messing with us,' came the statement. 'That has to be it. He's messing with us. Just like we've been trying to mess with him. He's after the Shikon.'

'Can't be,' Naraku frowned. 'If that was the case, he'd have tried to do something by now.'  
'Are you sure?' his mind spat. 'He's up to something. He's being tricky. You can't afford to be nice to him anymore. Now's the time for action. Do what you've been wanting to do. Get it over with. He'll react then. I'm sure he will.'

"Kagura."

"Yes, Naraku?"

The wind demoness moved from where she'd been lounging, her slender form now straight. Naraku kept his gaze on Inuyasha.

"Do what we discussed. Take Kohaku with you but don't get caught. Understood?"

"Hai."

She immediately dashed out of the room, leaving him alone with Inuyasha. Even though that he now had his mind made up, Naraku still couldn't control the anger that he felt. He hated to think that the hanyou before him was simply duping him just get to the Shikon no Tama. Of course, it would be the only way Inuyasha would be able to get his hands on the jewel. Once the miko got it, it would be all over for Inuyasha. He wouldn't be able to become full youkai, like he'd been intending all along.

For that's what Naraku believed. Inuyasha still wanted to become full youkai and he was just biding his time until Naraku lowered his guard long enough for him to attack. He began to circle the silver-haired male the same way a predator circled its cornered prey.

"I think the time for games has ended, Inuyasha," he purred smoothly. "Because that's what you've been doing, hasn't it? You've been playing with me, the same way I've been trying to play with you."

A ragged sigh escaped Inuyasha at that moment, and Naraku narrowed his eyes. That was all he was going to get out of Inuyasha and he knew it. The last month had told him as much. Letting out the feral growl from before, Naraku's arm swung out, striking Inuyasha across the cheek and sending the boy sprawling across the floor. If anything, he figured, _that_ would spark Inuyasha into action. The hanyou wasn't one to let anyone beat on him. Not even Sesshomaru could get away with hitting Inuyasha like that. He stood there, waiting for the growl that he'd come to associate with Inuyasha becoming angry and getting ready to fight, his fists clenched at his sides.

It never came.

Instead, Inuyasha remained where he lay, slightly curled on his side. Tears, as they had often done before in the last month, formed in his eyes but he still refused to cry, to weep, as if he were incapable of such a simple task.

In that moment, Naraku knew that Inuyasha wasn't playing a game. How or why he knew, he couldn't say. He just knew and he felt . . . guilty, an emotion alien to him, for having struck the boy. His anger evaporating, Naraku knelt next to him and brushed his fingers against the bruise that was forming on Inuyasha's cheek. The inu hanyou flinched but otherwise did nothing.

"You really would let me do anything to you, wouldn't you? Anything at all," he murmured. "Anything I do to you would preferable than what happened with the miko, isn't it? Have you fallen that hard, Inuyasha? Is her betrayal running that deep into your soul?"

As he spoke, Naraku knew the answers to those questions. Inuyasha _had_ fallen that hard, having put his faith and trust in the miko. He truly had not seen it coming . . . and it had destroyed him, shattered him as the Shikon no Tama had been shattered. Gone was the strong and proud warrior Inuyasha had been and in his place was a lost little boy. It nauseated Naraku to think of what she had done, even though he had, at one point, relished in what it was going to do to his nemesis. This, however, this broken-spirited boy was too much for him. Quietly and carefully, he pulled Inuyasha into his arms and cradled him close.

Somewhere along the way, in his attempts to elicit a reaction out of his enemy by trying to kill Inuyasha with kindness, something had been sparked within him. What, Naraku didn't know yet, but he was willing to find out. He gently kissed Inuyasha on the forehead, and whispered two words in a heartfelt sincerity that surprised even him.

"I'm sorry."

888888888

"I'm sorry."

Something about the kiss to his forehead and those two little words triggered something in Inuyasha and he felt his breath hitching into his chest.

They weren't something he'd been expecting coming from Naraku. He hadn't been expecting the soft, gentle tone that his nemesis had spoken with nor the sincerity that he heard in that tone. It was so unlike the dark hanyou to be so tender, so caring and it literally stunned Inuyasha. And those words had another reaction he hadn't been expecting, either.

The ball that had formed in his chest had begun to melt away. As it did so, it left in its wake all of the tears Inuyasha had not been able to shed before. It freed him, made it easier for him to breathe.

For the first time since his mother had died all those decades ago, Inuyasha broke down . . . and cried.


	9. Chapter 9

Naraku hummed softly as his fingers made their way through Inuyasha's hair, idly smoothing out the tangles that he found there. Occasionally they made their way up to the hanyou's white, furry ears and stroked them but otherwise continued to make a trail between silvery-white tresses. The last thing he wanted was for Inuyasha to wake up right now. He'd fallen asleep some time before after having cried for several long moments. Every emotion that had lodged itself into the boy had come crashing out, draining him and leaving him exhausted. A ragged sigh escaped the silver-haired male every now and then, though he never woke from his slumber.

As he had cried himself out, Inuyasha had revealed some things to him that Naraku had either guessed about or had not known at all, things that Inuyasha had probably never revealed to anyone before. Each word the inu hanyou had uttered had been heart-wrenching, from the moment he'd lost his mother to the miko's betrayal . . . to his desire for death, so he could escape the pain that had become his life. Soon after, the words ceased to tumble out and Inuyasha lay against his chest, trembling and clinging to him as if he'd become a lifeline.

Now they both sat there, Inuyasha sleeping and Naraku keeping him soothed, his mind going over everything the puppy-eared hanyou had told him. He'd tried his best not to move around too much – Inuyasha clung to him that much tighter, a whimper escaping him – but it couldn't always be helped. In order to keep them both comfortable, he needed to adjust.

It felt strange, being the one to offer comfort and to an enemy no less. Inuyasha had never comforted him in his time of need. No one had . . . except for that one time, when he had still been Onigumo, that Kikyou had comforted.

He'd been dying. Naraku remembered as much and knew that Kikyou had known that as well. However, it hadn't stopped her from tending to him, feeding him and cleaning him. She'd tried to make his passing as bearable as possible, had done so because she had believed it to be right. It didn't matter that he lusted after her and had been frustrated at his situation. She had still taken the time to comfort him when he'd needed it.

As they sat there, Inuyasha sleeping peacefully against him, Naraku realized that he had just slipped into that very same role as Kikyou had all those years ago. However, unlike the situation between him and Kikyou, he actually had a few things in common with the silver-haired male nestled snug against his chest. When he'd been Onigumo, he'd been betrayed by his so-called friends, had been left to die in a burning building then tossed down a cliff. Inuyasha had been burned, not in the same sense that he had been but still burned, by his friends as well. The hanyou's friends had fled from the truth, had turned a blind eye as to how it would truly affect him, all so the miko could have her little fling.

His fingers still stroking Inuyasha's hair, Naraku noted that he now felt a little strange. Not in a bad sense of the word but still strange. He felt . . . satisfied in holding the youth and in giving Inuyasha the comfort that he so desperately needed, like a void somewhere inside of him was being filled just by being there for the hanyou.

Such feelings would have normally scared Naraku. He didn't want to feel anything but the scorn that he held for others. He relished in the misery of others, took great joy in creating that misery. Now . . .

Now there wasn't anywhere else he wanted to be other than where he was at. Inuyasha had needed someone, had _needed_ him but for a reason neither of them probably couldn't explain. It had just turned out that way.

"What are you doing to me?" he murmured, nuzzling the top of Inuyasha's head.

"Naraku?"

At Kagura's surprised tone, he lifted his head to see her and Kanna standing in the doorframe. Kanna, as usual, bore no signs of emotion but Kagura's eyes had nearly popped out of her head at the sight of him holding their nemesis.

"Yes, Kagura?"

"Kohaku and I have done as you've ordered," she murmured, taking a tentative step into the room. "And now Kanna and I are here . . . are we . . . interrupting something?"

"No," he shook his head. "You're not. Come. Both of you. Sit by me."

Kanna, ever the obedient child, quickly moved to sit by him, her eyes never questioning his motives. Once she had reached him, she sat on his right side, her large eyes gazing at the form cradled next to him. Kagura, however, hesitated, as if she weren't quite sure if she could trust him. Instead of threatening her, though, as he had often been wont to do in the past, he just nodded, indicating to her that it was okay. She took a few steps towards them, an obvious sign that she still didn't quite trust what she was seeing. Not that Naraku could blame her. He'd always been one for tricks and deceptions. He wouldn't expect her, or anyone else, to believe that something inside him had changed. He wasn't quite believing it himself.

'But time makes all things possible.'

"It's all right, Kagura. I'm not going to hurt you," Naraku murmured. "Things are going to change around here. It isn't going to be easy . . . but they will change. I promise you that."

888888888

'They're not going to get away, they're not going to get away,' Kouga chanted to himself as he took off in the direction that Kagura's scent had come from. Of course, Kagome had detected a fragment of the sacred jewel coming from the wind witch's direction as well, which the group had concluded the wind sorceress had Kohaku, the taijiya's younger brother, with her as well.

Their goals had not changed with Inuyasha's disappearance. They still wanted to get the young taijiya out of Naraku's grasp. Once they got Kohaku away, they could find a way to ensure that the boy would live and they'd have yet another shard of the Shikon no Tama. After that . . .

'After that, we get the rest of the Shikon jewel,' Kouga growled to himself, 'and we do this world a favour . . . We get rid of that bastard once and for all. He'll pay for what he's done.'

Kouga ran on, Kagome clinging to his back with Sango, Miroku, and Shippou riding on Kirara. Ginta and Hakkaku were trailing behind with the remaining members of the wolf packs. Hiroshi and Ayame . . . well, he didn't care where _they_ were at. As long as they were close behind or taking care of the camp, Kouga didn't care . . . and the further he was away from blue-eyed inu hanyou, the better.

He wasn't about to admit it but something about Hiroshi truly had him unsettled. Kouga couldn't figure out what. Perhaps it was the fact that Hiroshi _was_ hanyou and relation to both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Perhaps it was the fact that Hiroshi and Inuyasha bore a very strong family resemblance. Or perhaps it was the fact that Hiroshi was an example of how Inuyasha could truly be. The only time warmth entered Hiroshi's eyes was when he happened to glance at Ayame. The only time he smiled was when he was watching Ayame. The only time he was _anything_ remotely nice was when he was around Ayame. It was like watching an older, more intelligent, and colder version of Inuyasha, and it made the hair on Kouga's neck stand on end to be around the inu hanyou.

'Can't think about that now,' he told himself, inhaling deeply. His eyes narrowed as he did so. He could smell the wind demoness and the young male taijiya's scents but they were now fading away . . .

"Dammit!" he growled, coming a stop. His head turned every which way, trying to get a whiff of the two. They'd been there. Their scents still lingered but there weren't any traces of them. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know," Kagome replied, sliding off his back.

"Can you detect any of the jewel shards, Kagome-chan?" Sango inquired as the fire-cat landed next to them.

Kouga turned his attention to his intended, noting her face twisting into a look of thoughtful concentration. Then she shook her head.

"No. It's gone."

"Damn . . . what the hell is Naraku up to this time?"

"I think I know," came the quiet murmur. All eyes turned to Miroku, and Kouga heard a gasp escape the two females. In the monk's arms lay a pile of familiar red clothing.

888888888

"So . . . what exactly does this mean?" Ginta inquired quietly.

In the center of the camp lay the pile of red clothing that Miroku had discovered by a nearby tree. The clothes that Inuyasha had never been without. Kagome knew as much. She'd been rather hard-pressed to get him to change into anything else when he'd gone to her era. The fact that Kagura and Kohaku had led them to Inuyasha's clothing . . .

Along with Inuyasha's clothing there had been a scroll. Who had written it, they could only guess. Kagome had been the one to read it, had insisted upon it, and what she had read frightened her.

It had said that Inuyasha no longer wanted his fire-rat clothing, that the clothes themselves held too many painful memories for the inu hanyou to bear. They reminded him too much of Kikyou and Kagome, and their betrayals, both recent and from fifty years before. Inuyasha, according to the scroll, no longer wanted to carry those memories with him. Getting rid of them had been the only for him to sever himself from the past. The scroll had not been signed but she knew that it had been written by Naraku. The dark hanyou knew no bounds when it came to trickery and deceit.

"What do you think it means?" Kouga snapped. Ginta immediately cowered from the enraged wolf youkai.

"It means that Naraku has Inuyasha," Kagome murmured softly, sadly, and instantly calming the blue-eyed wolf. "Who knows what could be happening to him right now?"

Her gaze then landed on Hiroshi.

"You knew this, didn't you? You knew that Naraku had Inuyasha. That's what your brother Akira was telling you, wasn't he?"

"Hai," he confirmed. "I did know. And I was going to inform everyone once they'd returned to the camp. It seems that Naraku has decided to tell you for himself."

Kagome felt herself shaking. Tears formed in her eyes and she shut them, to keep the mental images, images of Inuyasha being tormented and raped, out. Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and Kouga pulled her into an embrace.

Everyone remained quiet for a while, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire and Kagome's sobs. Her sobs soon subsided as determination, strong and hot, filled her. When she trusted herself to speak, she pulled away from Kouga, her gaze landing on everyone there.

"We can't afford any more delays. We seek out Naraku. Tonight."

888888888

Inuyasha's eyes fluttered open as a small stream of sunlight filtered into his room, and he let out a soft sigh. Another day had come.

He'd been doing that a lot lately, sighing. So many things had changed and so rapidly as well. An ache still echoed throughout his soul whenever he thought of the pretty, young miko from the future and her decision to be with his rival. He'd lost that battle . . . yet the ache wasn't nearly as sharp as it had been before. Things had changed . . . _he_ had changed and he knew it.

He was slowly getting better. He was getting to where he could actually stand up and get dressed on his own without Naraku's help. His appetite had begun to return as well. It was nowhere near where it had once been, but Inuyasha found that he couldn't ignore his stomach when it growled at him. Kagura had joked that he was returning to the land of living . . . whatever that had meant.

Naraku and Kagura . . .

They were his sworn enemies, people he had felt that he couldn't trust and that would just as soon spit on him as to help him. Yet . . . they _were_ helping him, had been for the last month. Why, he still didn't know . . . and he didn't care. They were there for him, encouraging him to continue living.

Of course, this had only been for a month. He'd been staying with the dark-haired hanyou for two, though he barely remembered that first month.

'Doesn't matter,' he told himself as strong, slender arms slipped around his waist and gave him a gentle squeeze. 'I'm wanted here . . . loved . . .'

It was still too soon for him to hope for a happy ending. His heart was still recovering from the shock of Kagome's betrayal. In many ways, he'd still love her, like he still loved Kikyou, but Naraku was slowly creeping in. Inuyasha knew it but wasn't about to stop it. Not in the least. Not after what Naraku had promised him. So far, Naraku had been good on that promise, shocking him and scaring him some.

"I do not want to get up," came the groggy sigh. A small smile tugged on Inuyasha's lips and he turned himself around so that he and Naraku were face to face, their noses nearly touching.

"So don't," Inuyasha stated. "Stay here. With me."

To that, Naraku chuckled and pulled him closer. A light and gentle kiss landed on his lips, something which he returned. He didn't know what he would have done if Naraku had not taken him captive in the first place. His heart was mending, he'd been given stability once more, and it was thanks to this man.

"I wish I could," he murmured. "But today's the day, koi. You know I can't."

"So you're really going to go through with this?" Inuyasha inquired. Naraku nodded.  
"Hai. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it."

Reluctantly, Naraku pulled away from him and rose to his feet. It would be time for him to leave soon. Though he didn't want Naraku to leave, Inuyasha knew that what Naraku had in mind had to be done. It couldn't be avoided any longer.

"Good luck," he murmured, pushing himself up. Naraku paused in the doorway and turned to give him one final glance and a rare, warm smile.

"Arigato, Inuyasha. Arigato. And I'll be back before nightfall. I promise."

In a flash, the crimson-eyed man left the room, leaving Inuyasha alone. With another sigh, the inu hanyou rose to his feet as well, ready to face another day . . .


	10. Chapter 10

"It is time to let you go, Kohaku . . . However, you will not be granted death. No. Instead, you will be granted life, a second chance at having something that everyone needs. You will not remember the deeds that you have committed at my command. You will not remember anything. The deaths of your kin at your hand will be nothing but a bad dream induced by a fever.

"Go in peace, Kohaku. May the Gods smile upon you on your journey."

888888888

"Are you sure?" The old woman glanced at the tall, handsome man before her, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Hai, I'm sure," he nodded, handing over an unconscious boy. "He's been dealing with a very high fever as of late and needs the help of a priestess . . . a priestess like you."

"And he won't cause any of the other villagers to fall ill?" she inquired, her eyes narrowing sharply at this strange yet richly dressed man.

"Quite sure," came the assurance. "I wouldn't be surprised if he recovered in the next few days. So . . . may he stay here?"

The old woman hesitated for a moment. Her village really could not afford having another mouth to feed but she also didn't want to turn this man away. He had such a kindly face . . .

"All right," she finally conceded. "He may stay . . . though if no one comes to claim him, we will put him to work."

"I'm sure he will have no problems with that."

The old woman stepped to one side, allowing him to enter her small and meager hut. He did so and placed the boy on a futon. For a moment, he just stayed there, his eyes never leaving the boy. Then he stood and faced her, bowing some.

"Arigato, priestess. Your help is greatly appreciated."

With that, he quickly, and quietly, exited her hut.

888888888

Naraku let out a deep breath as he left the village. That had not been nearly as difficult as he had first anticipated but it still had been hard. He'd had Kohaku as one of his puppets for quite some time and had intended on using him as a final bargaining chip when the final battle came.

Life had a funny way of changing plans, though, as he soon noted. Everything had changed within the last month, and he did not mind at all. He pulled the nearly complete Shikon no Tama out of his haori and smiled.

'Just one more thing left and then . . .'

He smiled warmly as he thought of the new plans that had been made. It wouldn't be too much longer before he left Japan with Kagura and Kanna . . . and Inuyasha.

For good.

888888888

"We have to keep moving!"

Kagome took the lead, barely paying any attention to the fact that Sango and Miroku were lagging behind. They were tired. She was tired, but she hadn't wanted to give up. Inuyasha needed to be found. She needed to talk to him, to apologize and to set some things straight. There were things that he needed to understand, that she needed to explain. They couldn't afford to rest. Not for very long, anyway. She'd gotten to where she was practically running on instinct alone. It had taken some time and much determination but she'd finally caught a hint of Naraku's whereabouts. He was close. The jewel called out to her.

'Thank goodness Hiroshi and Ayame left when they did. I don't think I could handle having them around much longer.'

"Kagome, we need to rest for a moment . . ."

"We can't!" she exclaimed, whirling around. "Naraku's nearby! I can sense the sacred jewel!"

For a moment, no one said anything. No one dared to say anything. After all, they were tired and needed to rest. However, they didn't want to let Naraku slip away from them as he had so many times before. Then their expressions steeled and they nodded. They knew what they had to do.

"Let's go then."

888888888

He knew that he shouldn't have left the castle. He knew it. Naraku, though, hadn't told him he _couldn't_ leave the castle.

'Besides, I'd like to take one last look around . . . before we go . . .'

Inuyasha drew a deep breath and let it out, a sigh of happiness escaping him. For the first time in what had felt like forever, he felt good about himself. Nothing could destroy him. He still didn't want to lay too much hope into Naraku or the promises that had been made to him. His heart was still healing from the betrayal of his friends.

'But he's right . . . I need to get away . . . from everything.'

He inhaled deeply at that moment . . . and caught his brother's scent on the wind as well as the scents of his former friends. They were close. Too close. Inuyasha started to run. He had to find Naraku before they did.

'Please don't let me be too late.'

888888888

Naraku glanced up just in time to see a whirlwind flying towards him. His eyes narrowed as he dodged a fist aimed at him. As he did so, he reminded himself that he didn't want to fight. He had to hand the Shikon over to the strange miko. That was his goal.

Within moments of the wolf appearing and growling at him, Naraku kept himself at a safe distance and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. The miko, the taijiya, and the monk appeared moments later, the wolf tribe right behind them. Suddenly, he felt very, very nervous.

'This doesn't look good . . .'

888888888

His world teetered on the very brink of misery and despair. Before him played out a horrific scene, one so terrible that his mind refused to comprehend what was truly going on.

Letting out a soft whimper and moan, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and everything went black.

888888888

Sesshomaru watched as his brother released a strangled cry and collapsed, just as Naraku was delivered a fatal blow by the strange miko that Inuyasha had traveled with. Why Inuyasha had collapsed, he didn't know. It was what he had seen the moment he'd arrived, and he'd only gone to where they were at because of both of their scents.

The scene itself was rather gruesome, Naraku's body slowly disintegrating from the miko's purifying arrow. Apparently, he had heard Inuyasha's cry for he'd turned to where his sibling now lay, his eyes wide. With a lurch, he began to make his way towards Inuyasha, despite the fact that his flesh practically melted off his skin. More arrows then pierced Naraku, causing him to stumble. Still, he didn't give up. He kept stumbling towards the boy, his own expression filled with horror and concern. Finally, his legs gave out several feet away from Inuyasha, and Naraku collapsed unceremoniously to the ground. The dark hanyou drew a final breath, muttering something before he hit the ground and before his body turned to dust.  
To say that he was displeased with the current developments would have been an understatement on Sesshomaru's part. He had wanted to destroy the dark hanyou himself, not for using him against Inuyasha but for trying to destroy him as well. If he'd been just a few moments later in removing that human arm . . .

'Good riddance to him,' Sesshomaru thought.

For some reason, though, he couldn't bring himself to fully believe the dark hanyou's death would result in anything good. Something had changed. What, he couldn't say but he knew that something had. Inuyasha had _not_ participated in Naraku's death. If anything, it had horrifed the boy beyond belief.

Then there was the way his brother was dressed and appeared in general. Granted, he had the Tetsusaiga at his side and that strange necklace around his neck but Inuyasha wasn't wearing his fire-rat clothing. He had _never_ seen Inuyasha out of those clothes. They'd been a family heirloom, something their father had given Izayoi to give Inuyasha as he got older. Instead, from what he could tell, his brother had been dressed in a fine silk haori and hakama, a white yukata peeking out from underneath. His hair had also been brushed until it resembled . . . well, silk. It also shimmered like the full moon when it graced the sky . . . and it had been pulled back, much like Naraku's had been. Inuyasha didn't look like the scruffy half-breed he always had. He looked regal, handsome . . . very much like the prince that he was. Something had happened, and Sesshomaru intended to find out what it was.

Keeping his back straight, he strode to where Inuyasha lay, as did his former traveling companions. Each wore a look of concern as they hurried over to him but Sesshomaru paid no heed to them. If anything, Inuyasha would not greet them warmly. If not for the miko's betrayal then for Naraku's death. Of that, the daiyoukai was sure.

The boy was starting to come to as everyone converged around him. Sesshomaru noted the pain that had flooded Inuyasha's eyes. Before he could say anything, however, the strange miko reached for him.

"Inuyasha . . ."

Upon seeing her, Inuyasha skittered away.

"Go away."

"Inuyasha," she began, "we came to rescue you . . . to get you away from Naraku . . ."

Inuyasha shook his head at that and kept scooting away from them. His entire form shook as he fought to keep some amount of control over his emotions. The ningens may not have seen it but Sesshomaru could, and it only confirmed to him that something had changed.

"Perhaps he did not want to be rescued," he said, his eyes never leaving Inuyasha.

"Don't be silly!" the miko declared, turning her attention to him. Her expression was one of anger and disbelief. "Why would he want to stay with Naraku, after everything that creep's done?!"

"It isn't any of your business!" Inuyasha screamed, rising to his feet and interrupting anything Sesshomaru might have had to say. "I'm not your concern anymore!"

Before anyone could react, his half-brother whirled away and started to run . . . only to end up hitting the chest of a very familiar-looking inuyoukai. Sesshomaru felt himself going cold as the inuyoukai wrapped his arms around his sibling, effectively restraining him, despite Inuyasha's struggling. Cool golden eyes gazed at every single of them, finally landing on the daiyoukai himself. Then he uttered the words that Sesshomaru had not wanted to hear.

"Lords Rei Inu and Kenmaru wish to see you. All of you."

888888888

Rei Inu took in the appearances of the group before him and did his best to hide his disgust. It wasn't because three members of the group were ningens. Granted, he wasn't as fond of ningens as he'd once been but he wasn't as repulsed by them as he'd once been. And it wasn't because a few members of this strange group were wolf youkai, either, or fire-neko or kitsune, or of indeterminate origin. He'd lived a very long life, and had dealt with many ningens and youkai throughout the course of that life.

No. It wasn't the fact that they were ningen, wolf, fire-neko, kitsune, and whatever that made his nose want to crinkle in disgust. It was their scents. They apparently had not bathed in a few days and their travels were starting to show on them. The only ones that didn't smell of their travels were his grandsons, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, though Inuyasha had been in no shape to actually take part in the current conversation. His elite guard captain, NatsuMaru, had taken the boy to a guest room, he'd looked so tired. Inuyasha's tears and pleas had not escaped Rei Inu, either, and it disturbed him.

'Guess it really can't be helped,' he told himself, keeping himself steeled. 'They can bathe and rest later . . . depending on how useful they're going to be in helping me find out what I need to know. I'll talk to Inuyasha later, when he's calmed down.'

He'd heard some rather disturbing rumours, Rei Inu had. Some of the rumours had been good. Some had not. It was time, in his opinion, to find out what exactly was going on. Apparently, one of the wolves had the same idea.

"All right, we're here. What do you want?"

Rei Inu raised an eyebrow at him, immediately creating a look of chagrin on the wolf. He was a leader. The ancient inuyoukai could tell by his demeanor. However, being a leader did not give anyone the right to talk so crudely to him in his home. Though his son now ruled over the southern lands, the palace was still his.

"Forgive me," came the quiet murmur. "I meant no disrespect. It's just that it's been a very long and hard journey, especially after a lengthy and difficult battle."

"That my father and I can understand," his oldest son, Kenmaru, stated. "And you'll be forgiven your rudeness. This time. Next time, you will not be so lucky, wolf."

"Understood."

"Very good. Now . . . many disturbing things have come to my attention and to my father's attention. According to my brother, Akira, you are among the ones who can either confirm or deny these . . . rumours. Your help and honesty are required in these matters." Kenmaru then cast a glance at him. Rei Inu nodded for him to continue. His son opened his mouth to say more but then was interrupted.

"Please," one of the females began, a strangely dressed ningen, "we're tired. Couldn't we at least rest first?"

"My dear, these are matters of great importance. You may rest after our questions have been answered satisfactorily. Food and drink will be brought in shortly. Now . . . shall we begin?"

888888888

Inuyasha felt exhausted. Not just physically exhausted but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Nothing in his life made sense anymore. The pain that had been lodged in his chest after he'd learned about Kagome and Kouga had once more burrowed itself into him. It made breathing difficult and all he wanted to do was escape it.

'Why? Why couldn't I get there sooner? It's all my fault . . . if I'd been there . . . he wouldn't have died . . .'

He no longer asked himself why he couldn't be allowed a small amount of happiness. Inuyasha knew the answer to that, had always known the answer to that question. He was hanyou. Hanyous weren't allowed any kind of happiness. They were meant for suffering and solitude. He hadn't wanted to believe it, had denied it for as long as he could remember but everything he'd gone through in the last two months . . . well, losing Kagome to Kouga then Naraku to death at the hands of his former friends had driven the points into him like nothing else ever had.

'If only I could just . . . sleep . . . then I'd be all right . . .'

His fingers dug into the soft baboon pelt that Naraku had always worn. At one point, he'd have never even touched it. He would have loved to dance upon it in victory at one point but not anymore. Given the pain in his heart and chest, Inuyasha knew he'd fallen for his nemesis, though he'd never meant to.

"Inuyasha?"

At the sound of his grandfather's voice, Inuyasha raised his head to see golden eyes flashing at him. He knew that look. His grandfather wasn't happy.

"Hai?" he whispered, the desire to shrink in on himself overwhelming everything else.

"What were you doing with the creature known as Naraku?" he demanded, his tone somewhat harsh.

Inuyasha cringed and shuddered as fresh tears threatened to assail him. He couldn't take anymore.

"I . . ."

Strong arms grasped him by the shoulders, sitting him up so that he met his grandfather's piercing gaze. Inuyasha hadn't even seen the ancient inuyoukai move.

"I have heard of everything that confounded creature has done," Rei Inu hissed, giving him a rough shake. "Especially of what he's done to those friends of yours. Why would you do that? Why would you betray your friends?"

"Betray? My friends?" Inuyasha felt his soul shattering all over again at his grandfather's harsh words and tone. "Is that what they're saying I did? That I . . . betrayed them?"

"Isn't that what you did when you began to consort with Naraku?"

"Naraku . . . took care of me . . . he was nice . . . he . . ."

A rather large lump had formed in Inuyasha's throat at that moment, making it difficult for him to speak. He knew, though, that his grandfather wouldn't relent until he had his answers.

"He was nice to you? Are you sure he wasn't using you?"

Rei Inu gave him another rough shake. A choked whimper escaped Inuyasha as the shake unhinged something deep within him. The tears that had threatened him before were finally freed from their prison and rolled down his cheeks in relentless rivulets. Inuyasha kept his head lowered, shame and defeat causing his shoulders to slump. He'd take whatever punishment his grandfather had in mind. He deserved it, after all.

"He was there for me," he whispered, his entire form trembling violently. "He . . . he was changing . . . he promised me . . . we were going to leave . . . after he gave Kagome the jewel back . . . he . . ."

"And you believed him?"

"Yes. I did . . . he'd been keeping his promises . . . to me . . . I swear that he was, Grandfather, I swear that he was . . . he promised . . . he promised he wouldn't hurt me . . . like they did . . . he promised . . ."

"He . . . promised he wouldn't hurt you like _they_ did? Who are they?"

Gulping for air, Inuyasha raised his head to see golden eyes gazing at him intensely.

"My friends."

"What?" Rei Inu blinked then pulled Inuyasha into his arms. "Tell me, child. What happened?"

Taking a shattered breath, Inuyasha began his story . . .

888888888

Rei Inu gazed at the slumbering form of his youngest grandson then let out a heavy sigh. The boy had been through hell. Of that, there weren't any doubts.

'And I didn't make matters any better by coming in here the way that I did,' he thought morosely, reaching out to stroke a dampened cheek. He knew that he hadn't made the situation any better for Inuyasha, especially after the boy had asked if he intended to send the hanyou away. It had taken a lot of reassurance on Rei Inu's part to finally get Inuyasha to calm down and believe that he wasn't going anywhere.

'Such a strong spirit . . . broken so easily . . . apparently, I didn't get the complete story . . .'

The ancient youkai rose to his feet and slipped out of the room, sliding the shoji behind him as he did so. Outside stood NatsuMaru and one of his most trusted advisors, an inuyoukai with empathic gifts named Haru. He turned his attention to NatsuMaru first.

"Stay here and watch over him. Make sure that none disturb him."

"Yes, my Lord."

Knowing NatsuMaru wouldn't disobey him, Rei Inu then turned his attention to Haru.

"Walk with me."

"Yes, my Lord," Haru murmured, bowing before him. Rei Inu then began to walk back to the main meeting hall, Haru falling into step behind him.

"Tell me, Haru . . . how long do you think before he recovers from this?"

"However long it takes for him to sleep it off, my Lord . . . he will not be waking up tomorrow. He will not be waking up for some time. Not unless someone tries to take that pelt away from him."

"And if someone does?" he inquired.

"He will die. He needs this time to grieve. That pelt will allow him to heal."

"So it needs to stay with him . . . very well then. It shall stay with Inuyasha until he is ready to part with it. I'll see to it."

"And what about the ningens, my Lord?" Haru asked. "They seem pretty adamant that the pelt has got to go, so as not to allow Naraku a chance to return to this world. They believe that he will if anything of his remains, with the exceptions of his incarnations. They're not going to like your decision."

"What about them? They told me what they wanted me to hear about Naraku. They left out some rather important details, in my opinion."

"Didn't Inuyasha confirm most of what they had said, though?" the advisor frowned.

"He did . . . but they also failed to mention the secret that they'd kept from my grandson," Rei Inu replied. "That secret has crushed my grandson, Haru. He was a strong-spirited boy. You know this as well as anyone else in this castle. He's been crushed by these events. The miko's preference of the wolf over him has wounded Inuyasha deeply, so deep, in fact, that he found an enemy's company preferable to theirs. I personally don't care if they like my decision or not. Inuyasha is my grandson and I will decide what's best for him during his stay here."

"Hai," Haru nodded. "I know this. I just felt it prudent to point out how the ningens won't like this."

"I know," the ancient inuyoukai offered a tiny smile. "You wouldn't be one of my trusted advisors if you didn't. But my decision will stand. Inuyasha comes first. I'll see to that personally."

They reached the meeting hall and all eyes landed on the two of them as they entered. The eyes of the ningens and their youkai traveling companies were hopeful, but they wouldn't be. Not for much longer.

"I have made my decision," Rei Inu announced. "Inuyasha shall keep the pelt. That is my final word."

Owari


End file.
